


I needed to lose you to love me

by livingliv



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Not between jaeyong, Not unrequited lust, Rating will rise, References to Depression, Take note of that, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:48:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22383613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livingliv/pseuds/livingliv
Summary: Taeyong had a boyfriend of 3 years.His name was Minjun and he was 2 years older than him. He was his boyfriend, soulmate and best friend, the confidant he’s never had before.Jaehyun had an unrequited love of an amount of time he'd rather not share.His unrequited love was 2 years older than him. He wasn't his and it was fine. He should belong to himself only.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Taeyong, Lee Taeyong/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 28
Kudos: 124





	1. Chapter 1

Taeyong had a boyfriend of 3 years.

His name was Minjun and he was 2 years older than him.

He was his boyfriend, soulmate and best friend, the confidant he’s never had before.

He was loving, caring and helped Taeyong when he thought he had no one, not even himself. Everything he had today was because of that man. When everyone turned their backs on him, Minjun found him on his darkest times, a helping hand in the middle of sorrow and self-pity.

Taeyong's life had been terrible at that time.

His parents were loving, but couldn't understand why their son couldn't get up from his bed or just seemed to do things in extremes. He couldn't go to work every day, because of some invisible illness that they just couldn't truly believe that it was there. They tried of everything to make him get up and interact again with his friends, family and the world that surrounded him. Taeyong couldn't do it. He had bursts of happiness that didn't last for long, not how they used to. It was difficult to deal with him and the overall numbness that seemed to flow through his veins.

The boy, that once lived happily every single day, just seemed to be there occasionally. No one could understand why Taeyong slowly started to isolate himself and some did not have the patience to deal with his terribly made up excuses.

He didn't lose his new job or his own house, thankfully. But everything else was lost. Or so he thought.

That time was hard. Starting something new, having just come out of university and landing on a quite big job had taken its toll on him. Everything had changed too suddenly and Taeyong definitely wasn’t ready for it. Moving out to live by himself, having strict bosses, not knowing how to interact correctly with his own friends and colleagues.

Not only that, but also knowing that all of them didn’t have a particularly good first impression of him. He knew it wasn’t hard to hate him, but just didn’t know why. Did he look too cold? Was he too annoying? Why were people so detached and feeding from other’s mistakes and failures? Was this what they called ‘the Real World’?

It didn’t matter. He had to do something about it. Nobody would wait for him to go back to his usual self (which he preferred to call ‘past self’, because who knew if that was really usual? Maybe he had always been gloomy).

Taeyong did go to the doctor, who had said it was depression. It would be fine once he started taking his medication, they said. He didn’t trust that too much and wasn’t into the idea of medicating himself. He waited as much as he could, only starting the treatment after Minjun slowly convinced him to do it.

It did work, thankfully. Not like they said, of course. It wasn't a miracle. He had to push himself further and further away from his comfort zone; it was painful and terrifying sometimes. His 'friends' did not come back, but some coworkers seemed to be willing to invite him to have some drinks (which he couldn't have because of the meds) and have some fun after work.

Minjun was calm and patient with him, having dealt with a brother in the same condition as Taeyong. His friends were incredibly nice too, turning into Taeyong’s own friends as the years passed and their relationship progressed. Not to mention that most of the man's friends were also his work colleagues, but in another department, one that he did not visit often.

Smiling, Taeyong looked at his cellphone, face glowing up at the new message:

_'I planned a nice dinner for us, but I can only promise the dinner part :/'_

Yes, his boyfriend couldn't cook for shit.

However, he still tried, and that was more than enough for his infatuated heart. Three years later and he still felt like when the man confessed to him: pounding heart, sweaty hands and flushed cheeks.

Taeyong could feel that Minjun was 'the one'. Even after dating 4 people, he had never felt something as strong as this. Replying with a string of hearts, he smiled softly to himself. Was he worthy of all this happiness and love?

Perhaps,

"Taeyong, please stop drooling because of the hag and help me~" Donghyuck whined, knocking on his door before dropping on the seat in front of the table.

Laughing, Taeyong pocketed his phone. "Go ahead, what's the problem now?"

It was his job to deal with them, therefore he was quite used to people asking for his assistance at least 7 hours per day. Specially Donghyuck, who had about 10 problems to be dealt with each day of work.

Sighing, Donghyuck placed a bunch of papers on top of Taeyong's table. "Your boyfriend's bestie won't stop giving me these reports and I just don't understand all these numbers, I mean- That's Jungwoo's job! I'm a marketing intern!"

Listening attentively to the complaints, Taeyong looked at the papers, snickering when he saw the hidden post it between the pages. Oh, of course it was him. Who else was that into irritating the young boy?

"What? Don't laugh at my misery, hyung!" Donghyuck said, annoyed. "Tell him to stop giving me other people's work! I am busy!" Just… the way Donghyuck wasn’t afraid of getting fired… it was refreshing, to say the least.

The truth is that Donghyuck wasn't that busy at all, mostly finishing his job before anyone else, roaming through the corridors like a lost soul. Taeyong could pretend that Donghyuck was a really busy person, though.

"Sure, sure," he nodded as seriously as possible, taking the note and sticking it to his table so the younger man wouldn't see it. That would certainly aggravate his mood.

_'Tell him to give this to Jungwoo. I just called him over so he would stop bothering Taeil. hehe'_

"Give this to Jungwoo, okay? I'll tell Jaehyun to stop bothering you. Yes, sure, don’t worry, he’ll definitely be punished for that! I won’t let him bully you anymore…"

Happy now, the younger man nodded, hurriedly escaping to get himself free of the burden. Taeyong could already hear the tired sighs coming from his possible next victim: Doyoung.

To be in charge of all of the people in this floor was basically the same thing as babysitting a bunch of bickering children. Taeyong had a good amount of fun, though, even if sometimes things got a little wild. They were all good at doing their jobs and some were very close to him, extremely important for his road to feeling better with himself and his situation.

Jaehyun, one of Minjun's best friend, was a particularly good friend of his, even if they only got closer after Taeyong and Minjun started dating.

The man had always been polite and even a cracked a joke here or there to entertain him when he was too much in his thoughts. He never pushed too much, which Taeyong certainly appreciated a lot.

Jaehyun was responsible for the floor above him, usually seeing him between breaks or in the elevator, where he used all of his energy to make sure Taeyong would approve his (and Johnny’s) "new set of jokes". They weren't new and definitely not that funny, but just seeing his friend's enthusiasm made him laugh and feel grateful for someone like that in his life.

Jaehyun did the opposite of what Minjun did to him: just like calm waves, he soothed the agitation and made Taeyong relax at work, unfunny jokes distracting him from everyday headaches.

Johnny and Doyoung were also Minjun's close friends, not a surprise since they went to university together. Just like Jaehyun, they left Taeyong with the same feeling of tranquility whenever they were around.

Ten wasn't that close to Minjun boyfriend before, but after getting closer to the Business Trio (as Mark, his favorite intern liked to call them), they all turned into a really tight group of friends. Which meant that he was also a great friend of Taeyong’s.

"Taeyongie!" A pretty face showed up, smiling at him. The woman was tall and looked very chic, almost a little cold, although the smile on her face was a giveaway of how her personality was warm and accommodating. That was Minji for you, one of the people he cherished the most.

She was the first one in the company to welcome him, and at first, she looked kind of scary. Dressed perfectly, she sounded very professional, going straight to the point. After one specially stressing afternoon, Taeyong, desperate, asked for her help, expecting a huge 'no' and a string of insults to follow it. He didn't know why he thought she was able of doing that but to say the truth Taeyong did think that strangers were about to snap at him at any time.

People were boxes of surprises, so he just learned to expect the worst from them.

"What is up, Minji? Do you need help with anything?" he asked kindly, putting away the tablet on his hands so he'd look properly at her.

Making a face, Minji shook her head. "You think I only come to see you when I want something? Insulting!" she huffed, faking anger. "I'm here because we are going out tomorrow, you hear me? No ditching this time unless you are really feeling bad," she said, stretching the 'really' to emphasize very well what she meant.

"God, you sound just like Minjun," Taeyong joked, earning a weak laugh from his friend.

"Okay then. Tomorrow it is. No alcohol for me but I'm not driving everyone home, you hear me?"

Pouting, she grumbled childishly, not looking like her age at all. "Fine. No designated driver, only cabs I guess."

"Very well. Now shoo, I have to finish this. I'm having a nice dinner later, which means I'm eating burnt food. I'm very excited!"

"Ew, good luck with Minjun cooking then. He sucks at it!" After that, she hurriedly said goodbye, rushing to avoid the interns that were currently whining about the paper load.

She often was seen as a shoulder to cry in the company, even if she was a senior and very much the definition of 'professionalism'. Minji just couldn't avoid helping the poor things.

The rest of the day ran smoothly, with just one or two complaints about Jaehyun and Johnny to deal with and a new training plan to build up for the new employees.

Someone might wonder why Taeyong would be responsible for the HR department in such a big company (that 'someone' also including him), but apparently the higher ups appreciated his work a lot. Thankfully that did make them ignore the times when he had to stay at home, too numb to get up and deal with the fact that he had a body to sustain.

While in the car, he could feel his excitement building little by little just at the thought of expending time with Minjun, bickering about silly things and eating terribly cooked food. It was the best part of his day.

Having forgotten his keys, Taeyong knocked on the apartment’s door, squeaking in surprise when two hands pulled inside the house.

“What-” he tried to say, the bag on his hand almost falling after having his face peppered with kisses. Now that was the welcoming he deserved.

“I cooked pasta because that’s the only thing I can do but still can’t promise you the tomato sauce isn’t burnt,” Minjun rambled, both hands squishing Taeyong’s cheeks, pressing kisses against the scrunched-up lips. Laughing into it, Taeyong hugged the man, tilting his head up so they could kiss properly. He knew that this was a warning. The whole thing probably is completely inedible. Good thing he made food yesterday, already thinking about his boyfriend’s disastrous attempts of cooking.

“Let me shower first and then we can eat, mmh?” Taeyong smiled, staring into the warm, dark eyes in front of him, shining with mirth. Minjun had just taken his own shower, smelling like his so familiar soap, hair still wet as he refused to blow dry it, even after his boyfriend warned him of the possibility of him getting sick.

Much to his discontentment, Taeyong escaped Minjun’s hold, giving him one last chaste peck before taking off his shoes and putting his bag away, closing the front door. Walking through the apartment, Taeyong shook his head disapprovingly at the slight mess his boyfriend created in the living room, one stare warning him about it. Sheepishly, Minjun started picking up the cushions currently on the floor. No matter how much he tried, Minjun would never be 1% as organized as him, and that was fine! But it did not mean he was going to live in a messy place.

After his relaxing shower, Taeyong put on his soft pajamas, stretching before facing the real mess inside their kitchen. He was surprised, however, by a clean room with completely edible (and even great looking!) pasta in two plates. No way Minjun finally learned how to make food like a normal person.

With a proud grin, Minjun wiggled his eyebrows. “See how good I am at this now? I might even cook better than you, Tyong.”

Sitting on the chair, Minjun told him to seat as well, trying not to burst into laughter when Taeyong stared at him, still suspicious. “This is takeout, isn’t it?” Taeyong asked, poking the food with his fork, almost moaning at how good it smelled.

“Nope, it’s not!” Minjun said, and it didn’t look like he was lying at all. If he were, Taeyong would certainly know because his nose twitched nervously when he tried to. The man was too obvious.

“Just spill, I know very well that you can’t possibly have learned how to cook in one afternoon,” Taeyong pressed, kicking him under the table playfully, already digging in, taste buds exploding at how good the food tasted. The person who cooked this certainly had put a lot of experience and love into it.

Pouting, Minjun grumbled. “Fine, it wasn’t me.” Faking surprise, Taeyong gasped, cackling at how his boyfriend rolled his eyes and whined about him being mean.

“Jaehyun did it for me.” Awed, Taeyong blinked. He never knew the man could cook like that, seeing as he always bought lunch and ate pretty questionable stuff (things kindergarteners would beg their parents to buy, like chocolate milk and pocky).

“Why didn’t you invite him to have dinner with us, then? If he was the one who cooked this he has the right to eat it too!” Taeyong chastised, feeling bad now. Jaehyun was too good to be real, he thought, fondly shaking his head.

"I told him my problem with the kitchen and he, kindly as always, told me he'd help his bestie," Minjun explained, filling his mouth with spaghetti before sighing at the 'ping' sound his phone made.

Groaning, he replied to it, shaking his head. "I swear to god, Minji better stop bothering me with job problems after my shift ends."

Minjun didn't work at the same company as him, however, he did work for them, offering juridical support. Since they did not have a proper a Law department, the office he worked at was responsible for it. Minji, as the workaholic she was, always stayed over at the office, separating the issues everyone would have to deal with at the next day and sending it to them. Some of their colleagues simply ignored it, while others were thankful for it. Minjun was in the team 'I'm going to end this woman if she texts me about work again'.

"Don't be mean to her and stop looking at your cellphone while we eat, will you?"

"Ugh," Minjun breathed out, snickering at a text before putting the object on top of the table again. "She's a pain in the ass, no offense."

Rolling his eyes, Taeyong kicked the man again, defending his best friend. With an 'ouch', the man reached to rub his knee before making puppy eyes at him. Smiling fondly, Taeyong sent him a flying kiss, squealing when Minjun bent over the table to give him a real one. Closing his eyes, he let himself be kissed, feeling all the worries from the day being washed away with loving touches and soft lips.

Pulling away, they finished the dinner, Taeyong forgetting about sending the one responsible for its success a thanking text. He was tired and dreaming about falling right on top of their comfortable mattress, sleep fuzzing up his mind. Taeyong knew that he wasn’t going to fall asleep that easily, though.

"Minjun," Taeyong gasped, shivering with each touch of lips against his neck, laughing lightly when the man playfully bit the skin. He hoped no marks would be left, he wasn’t into people seeing him at work and knowing very well what he was up to at home.

"What?" he asked, face buried in the crook of Taeyong's neck, probably not having heard the familiar and constant sound echoing through their room.

"Your phone," he tried, giggling at how Minjun growled lowly, reaching for his phone and cursing under his breath.

"Come on, this might be important..." Taeyong coaxed, slapping away a hand that was slipping down his hips. Frustrated, Minjun laid down next to him, picking up the call.

"I swear to GOD, woman-" Minjun yelled, apologizing to Taeyong before going out of the room. Kind of disappointed, he pouted, looking down at his underwear.

Trying to distract himself, Taeyong grabbed his phone, remembering that he had a virtual tamagotchi to take care of. The thing, fortunately, had the stats pretty high thanks to Jaehyun's tips. The man had no experience with them, but still sounded as if he was a Tamagotchi Whisperer. Maybe he had been in his past life or alternative universe, who knew?

Oh, thanking for the food! He had forgotten about it!

_'Jaehyun, thanks for the food and for saving my dinner :D Next time come eat with us!'_

Taeyong was about to fall into slumber when a soft vibration woke him up completely. He chuckled when he heard Minjun angrily whispering something, clearly not happy about being held up from having his share of fun at 9 pm after a very long day.

_'No problem, hahaha! I wouldn't let you eat another of Minjun's monstrosities he insists on calling as food. As for eating with both of you.... uh, thanks but no! Definitely not into third wheeling. Nor threesomes. I'm possessive._

_LMAO jk. I hope you two enjoyed it. Good night!_ _'_

Laughing, Taeyong replied. Minjun was still outside their room.

_'Good night, you clown. See you tomorrow!'_

_'Good night, shortie. Sleep well.'_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was a good job, Jaehyun thought.
> 
> It is a fucking great job, Jaehyun thought again when he saw who was the one giving them the company's training plan for new interns. Who in the world let someone as beautiful as the person in front of him stay hidden from the humanity's eyes like that? For that long?

Jaehyun had an unrequited love of an amount of time he'd rather not share.

His unrequited love was 2 years older than him. He wasn't his and it was fine. He should belong to himself only.

He was beautiful inside and out, strong in a way that Jaehyun had never seen someone be before. It wasn’t love at first sight, just so everyone knows. But if anyone asks whether it was crush at first sight then he’d stay quiet as hell because having a crush on your best friend’s boyfriend of 3 years does not sound nice at all.

Jaehyun started working at his current job when he was 20. His university course demanded him to have some experience before graduating, so he decided to start it as soon as possible. He appreciated the little paycheck too. At 20, living with his parents and having no real bills to pay, any kind of money was already enough for him to have a lot of fun with his friends. And invest in stuff he liked too, music being one of those. More specifically, piano lessons.

 _It was a good job_ , Jaehyun thought.

 _It is a fucking great job_ , Jaehyun thought again when he saw who was the one giving them the company's training plan for new interns. Who in the world let someone as beautiful as the person in front of him stay hidden from the humanity's eyes like that? For that long?

Oh, he was slowly falling into those dark orbs. Trying not to act embarrassing, Jaehyun collected himself quickly, neutral written all over his face. What came out of his mouth, though, was a terrible joke. Which worked! The beauty looked amused, eyes glinting before shaking his head playfully.

And that was the last time they interacted (properly) for about 2 years.

This should sound very sad and pathetic but Jaehyun was already very much into the mechanics of having a crush. That was how it usually happened. Right?

Did elevator encounters mean something? No? Fine by him.

He could still remember the time he went out to the bar with Minjun, Johnny and Doyoung after work. Jaehyun ached for a drink, especially after receiving new interns to look after. He wasn't even the responsible for that in the Business department, but, apparently, a boomer just wasn't interested in doing their job.

As expected of his great luck, his best friend ended up completely besotted with Taeyong. Now, he wasn't one to fight his friends for romantic interests, so Jaehyun decided that pretending to support his friend was the best option. It would be humiliating to receive a big, curt 'no' from Taeyong while Minjun would definitely get a 'hell yes' from said man. Seeing that, he smiled stiffly at the scene of his best friend successfully offering Taeyong a drink.

Jaehyun refused to acknowledge Johnny's and Doyoung's weird looks. So what if he had a crush? It was nothing serious, he wouldn't be heartbroken over something so silly.

Well, or so he thought.

This heartbreak was weird. It developed slowly, starting from the day at the bar and reaching its final form once Taeyong and Minjun started dating. From that, it didn’t get worse, but it did get uglier, bringing him shame for wishing something he couldn't have.

It was completely his fault, and he knew that, no one knew it better than him. Perhaps if he had done something, if only he had asked for a lunch with the man...No. He wouldn't dare to think of that, no way. Not when that relationship was making one of his best friends happy. Not when the object of his affection was beaming because of it.

To say that their friendly outings were weird was to be too kind. It was uncomfortable as hell and Jaehyun felt like fading every time Johnny or Ten, their group's new acquisition, threw him a pitying look.

Yes, he was a clown in love, thank you very much for taking notice.

 _'That just doesn't make sense? Like, how do you stay in love with someone for years without even interacting properly? And no, elevator encounters aren't good enough.'_ Ten would say, as if Jaehyun could answer him properly, as if he didn't know his heart worked strangely.

The good news was that Taeyong and Minjun were awfully unaware of his longing, which certainly helped not turning their meetings into Jaehyun's pity party.

Knock, knock.

"Stop messing with Donghyuck, you know he's trying his best to stop gossiping around, Jaehyun." Ah, to be blessed with the existence of Lee Taeyong.

Ah, to look at the hand knocking on his officer's door and see a ring shining on one slender finger.

No, no, no, not that soon, he was supposed to wait more time, Minjun and Taeyong weren't ready to get married. God, was that an engagement ring?

"Nice ring," he blurted out, laughing awkwardly. Great. Just the way to sound natural and not jealous at all. Jealous of his own best friend's happiness, of the person he cares for building a life with someone else, how selfish of him, he should be ashamed-

"Oh?" Taeyong stared at the thin band, shrugging. "I bought it a few years ago. Mom used to tell me it looks like I'm engaged, or something. I just thought it looked pretty?" he asked absentmindedly, tilting his head. "Maybe this is me telling myself unconsciously that I want to get married?"

Jaehyun could see and hear the joke in Taeyong's voice, but his own laugh was weak and fake sounding, a bead of sweat sliding down his face. Pretending to grab a paper behind his chair, Jaehyun pressed a hand against his swiftly beating heart, trying to calm himself down.

"Yeah, haha! Maybe!"

"Anyway," Taeyong changed the topic, smile still on his face. "I came here to give back your stuff. Thank you for the food, it really saved my night!"

Looking at Taeyong's brilliant eyes and curled up lips, Jaehyun felt incredibly bad about the fact that the only thought that came up to him was 'Well, can you imagine if you were my boyfriend? I'd cook for you for like, forever? Maybe marry me so I can turn that into a promise? Oh, dump my best friend and stay with me but don't you dare break his heart!'.

The last one left a sour taste in his mouth.

Disgusting, completely disgusting, congratulations for being the worst friend of the century!

Getting up, he made the way to take object from the other's hands, eye flinching when Johnny passed behind Taeyong and gave him slightly judging looks mixed with a tinge of curiosity.

Noticing that his fingers were still over Taeyong's, he slowly took it away, trying not to let his ears flush at the contact.

"H-Huh," Taeyong stammered. As expected of the slightly shy man, any touch from people who weren't his parents or Minjun probably did that to him. "I have to go... I have an appointment with the doctor so, yeah, bye!"

"Is everything alright with you? Is it the flu? I have some tea mom gave me; I can bring it for you tomorrow if you want."

"No, no! Everything is fine! Just a checkup!" he laughed, seeming a little wary of expending more time with him. Was he being creepy? Oh god, he probably was! He did act like that with all of his friends but maybe Taeyong knew about his tiny crush and was-

"You're too sweet, Jaehyun," Taeyong said after seeing the frown resting on the other's face. "I'm fine, don't worry! See you later at lunch? Minjun said he's too busy today, just like everyone else I asked."

Taeyong probably wasn't even aware of the pout resting on his lips and how endearing it was, but Jaehyun had a privileged view and was very much enjoying it. His heart still clenched painfully at the mention of his best friend. Silly of him, isn't it?

Jaehyun agreed to eat with him, of course, watching as Taeyong walked by the corridors and grabbed the attention of the new interns. He could relate to the poor things. One looked particularly nervous after being greeted by the man, bowing hastily before quickly diverting her eyes. Jaehyun was going to take note of that: Law Intern from Minjun's Office With Curly Black Hair, has a crush on Taeyong, another competitor to his place of Leader of the 'Taeyong Has, Unwillingly, Broken My Heart Club'.

Throwing himself onto the chair, Jaehyun sighed, giving Johnny the middle finger once the man passed by the small window on his door, giving another look of fake curiosity.

Now he had to find someone else to have lunch with them. He definitely wasn't going to let his foolish heart believe that was some kind of twisted 'date'. Perhaps Minjun could make some time to eat with them, if he begged enough then surely the man would give in. After all, he had been Jaehyun's friend from quite some time, the older neighbor that played and protected him from bullies and ugly insects. Jaehyun was a clingy child and definitely demanded a lot of the older boy's attention and time, but not once he complained.

He was the big brother Jaehyun never had and that is exactly what made things even more fucked up.

"Hey," he said cheerfully into the phone, twirling a pen around his fingers. "Wanna have lunch with us today? I know you are busy but we can eat later or earlier, it depends on you."

"Hi, little bro. I don't think I can... I'm having some work with the new interns and it looks like they need more assistance. Did Tyong ask you to convince me?" Laughing, Minjun explained himself with a soft tone, sounding regretful.

"But it's been a while..." Jaehyun tried, now getting desperate. Ten, Johnny, Doyoung, Yuta, Sicheng... everyone seemed to be busy, no one had the time to eat properly with the deadline coming up. "Don't abandon me, no- way better- don't abandon Taeyong. Can you imagine how bored he's going to get with only me?"

Tsking, Minjun chastised. "Nonsense, he likes you a lot. Stop putting yourself down, too."

Great, just what Jaehyun needed to hear. It wasn't unnerving at all. He wasn't getting the wrong thoughts, he surely wasn't.

Minjun continued: "And I can eat with him at night, a few days without having lunch together isn't going to make him feel lonely, believe me. He needs to have some time with his friends and without me too."

Now that was something Jaehyun could agree with. He always thought Taeyong needed to be more of his own person, develop friendships with more people who weren't Minjun's acquaintances. How dependent he seemed to be sometimes made him worried, to be honest.

"B-But," he still tried.

"No buts. Taeyong can live without me, I'm not his kidney, or something."

Frowning, Jaehyun agreed, but felt a little irked, even if Minjun's tone was playful. Maybe he was too protective of the older man. "Of course he can, I just thought he'd appreciate if you could eat lunch with us. He sounded like he hasn't had the chance in a while."

Minjun sighed. "Yes, I have been too damn busy. I'm mad too but there is nothing I can do. The company is growing and has more cases to deal with. That's good and bad at the same time. I will try to spend more time with him, ok? God, you and Taeyong have the same level of clinginess, huh?" He laughed airily, sounding nostalgic, probably remembering the times when Jaehyun wouldn't let go of his legs, begging for him to play.

"I'm not clingy at all! I'm a grown, independent man." Jaehyun defended himself, huffing. "But you need to visit me, okay? It's been years."

"I saw you four days ago."

"And?" he asked, baffled by the question. They used to see each other every day!

Chuckling, Minjun agreed. "You are right, you are right. I promise hyung will make some time to see you too, okay? Now I really have to go, I'm sorry buddy."

"Don't call me buddy, I'm 25." Jaehyun complained, making a gesture for Donghyuck to come over, snickering when the boy pretended he didn't see it, hurriedly running away. "Alright, I gotta go too. Have a nice day!"

"You too, Grown Man." At the mocking, Jaehyun rolled his eyes, lips puckering in distaste.

It was only after hanging up that he realized he had a Not-Date with only Taeyong.

■■■■■■

As expected, spending time with Taeyong wasn't uncomfortable at all, even after years of pining. From Jaehyun's part. He liked to remind himself of that, just so he'd never step out of line.

The years of terrible, unfunny jokes had paid off, Taeyong seemed to smile just at the sight of his face, shoulders relaxing and talkative, telling him all about his day. Better, how many 18 years old had tried to (un)subtly hit on him before they realized he was the one in charge at the moment.

"One of them started slapping the boy who wouldn't stop flirting and pointed to my finger, probably thinking I'm married," Taeyong said that as if it were ridiculous and Jaehyun, of course, laughed along with him but could feel drops of sweat sliding down his back again.

"Johnny passed by us, noticed what was going on and decided to entertain himself by scaring the poor things. He came by and glared at them, asking who dared to flirt with his husband and I couldn't help but try not to die of laughter. The interns looked really scared of him, god their faces-" Taeyong cackled, face flushed and attracting everyone's attention with his laugh, which sounded as if he was wheezing.

Amused by the scene, Jaehyun laughed along, loud and free just like the man in front of him. He had to admit that Johnny could look very intimidating sometimes, but if they only knew how he really was...

"One girl piped up and screeched 'huh?', probably not believing that Johnny was my husband at all. Smart one, but she seemed almost afraid of me, or something. Maybe we scared them too much?" Taeyong wondered, shrugging before stuffing his mouth with meat.

Perking up, he asked. "Was she a tall one, with slightly curly, dark hair?"

Thinking for a bit, Taeyong nodded. "Yup. It was her. How do you know her, though? Got eyes on her?" he teased, giggling to himself.

Jaehyun made a face. "No, she must be 18? Too young, that's for sure." He hid the 'No, dude. I'm quite in love with you so, yeah, my eyes are as bad as your myopic ones in that aspect'.

"I actually thought she had a crush on you," he pointed out, snorting at how Taeyong's eyes widened in surprise.

"Me? I mean, why? She was the quietest one the whole time I was showing them around."

"Well," Jaehyun yawned, poking a piece of steak with his chopstick before taking it to his mouth. "The quiet ones are definitely suspicious. And she looked very interested in you, all nervous and jittery."

Working hard not to sound jealous, he smiled, laugh coming up easily after so much experience. "Too bad you're as good as a married man, she has no chance."

Choking on his food, Taeyong patted his chest. "I'm not married!" Kicking Jaehyun's shin lightly, he chewed on the food in his mouth, eyebrows furrowed for some reason. "How could I get married without having had a big party to invite all of you?"

"Oh, I don't remember you loving parties?" Ever since Jaehyun has known Taeyong, he thought the other was the type to enjoy small gatherings, better if it happened at his house so he could be comfortable.

Resting his head on one soft hand, he worried his bottom lip. "I liked parties before, you know? I liked them a lot, actually... it's just that I slowly lost the desire to go to them over the time. Sometimes I still want to go to one, though, I miss dancing and having some drinks without worrying about stuff."

“Then why you never asked us to go with you? It’s not like our group of friends does not like parties, after all.” It was true, most of them were still quite young and vivacious (Yuta’s words) and enjoyed going out for drinks and dancing. While Taeyong did go out to drink with them after work sometimes, there hasn’t been a time where he went clubbing or to a more dancing-friendly type of bar.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Taeyong smiled weakly. “I mean, you are right, I should have asked you all to accompany me. I think it would be fun. I’m not sure if everyone has the time to, these days. With all the deadlines and new employees to accommodate.”

Taking a sip of his green tea, Jaehyun shrugged, not that worried about work. “Work has been demanding but we can’t forget to have fun, Taeyong. I think going out at weekends isn’t going to be prejudicial at all.”

“Do you think everyone would be up to go out this weekend, then? Would you help me convince them?” Taeyong asked excitedly, hopeful, cheerful brightness all over his beautiful face. Did anyone think Jaehyun had a chance to deny him anything even if he wanted to?

“But of course! It’s not like our friends have the heart to tell you ‘no’.” He teased, letting out an ‘ouch’ when Taeyong kicked him playfully under the table again. Pretending to be deeply hurt, Jaehyun gave him a dirty look, glaring. “I’m younger, please stop bullying me, you really have no shame-”

As he was about to continue with his dramatic skit, a loud thunder roared, frightening both of them plus the people in the restaurant, a small child squealing with an ear-splitting power. At the same time, heavy rain started to pour and he was glad they had a nice, warm shelter. They had to go back to the company, however.

“Oh, no. Why did we come here by feet?” Taeyong groaned, grabbing his cellphone, rapidly typing something. Curious, Jaehyun made a questioning noise before proceeding to finish his own plate of food.

“I was just seeing the weather forecast,” the other explained, eyes still locked on the screen. “It seems like this is going to last till midnight, they say.” Putting the device away, he rubbed his belly, seemingly full after filling himself with mostly meat, rice and orange juice, having only tasting a bite of their salad.

Humming, Jaehyun swallowed, glancing at his watch. “We have no umbrellas with us either, that’s bad.”

“We’ll run and hope it’s warm enough inside our office, I guess?” Taeyong proposed, sheepishly tilting his head, adorably biting the side of his cheek. Trying to distract himself from the sight of dark black hair framing impeccably, pinkish cupid bow and plump bottom lip resting so harmonically on the other’s face, Jaehyun drank his tea again, cursing silently when he noticed it was already over.

“Yeah, we might have to do that. It’s almost time to go back.” Hearing Taeyong’s groan made him smile furtively, glad that he was having a nice time too. A part of him worried that the man was groaning because he was too exhausted thanks to working too hard. “Don’t worry, we’ll definitely make sure that clubbing night is happening, ok? You are going to have fun with your friends!”

Excited, Taeyong agreed in advance to looking a bit down. “I hope everyone can go.” He wished, sounding slightly wistful. As much as Jaehyun wanted to ask what was wrong, he had the feel that the older man didn’t want to talk about it at the moment, forlorn looking no more, pleasing all over his face now. “Let’s pay the bill and go, then? The rain is still going strong and it’s not backing down anyway.”

Nodding, Jaehyun got up, grabbing his wallet and waiting for Taeyong to do the same. After paying the bills, they looked at each other with an understanding expression. Their suits would be completely drenched later. What a view it would be, one responsible for the HR department and the other for the Business one, looking like wet cats.

They ran and ran for their lives, even if doing so was probably making a bigger mess than just walking calmly and accepting their fate. Once they arrived at their workplace, everyone turned to look at them, shocked faces all over the place. They must look hideous, then. Donghyuck, Mark and Lucas were snickering behind their hands, taking off in an opposite direction when Jaehyun threatened to see them afterwards with some ‘gifts’. As in pages and pages to copy. Thousands of them.

“Stop torturing the poor children,” Taeyong berated, even if he looked pretty amused by it. “Well,” he looked down at himself. “I guess I’ll just work and hope it distracts myself from the feeling of this sticking to my skin.” Pinching the wet shirt away from his body, Taeyong winced and Jaehyun made himself pay attention to the elevator button, pretending the man wasn’t wearing a white shirt barely covered by his opened black suit.

“Wait.” Jaehyun recalled that he had extra outfits at his office, just in case a disaster like this one happened. “I have a shirt you could change into; it’s going to be a tiny bit bigger but it’ll fit you just fine.”

“No, no, there is no need, really!” Taeyong protested, hands making a polite dismissive gesture. “Just use it yourself, what if you get a cold? I can go home earlier, anyway. Don’t worry about me!”

Shaking his head, Jaehyun refused to give in. “Nonsense, Taeyong. I have about 3 emergency shirts and pants with me, stop being stubborn. What would Minjun say if he heard I let you stay in this condition for the whole day, mmh? Are you trying to get me killed here?” He joked, hurrying out of the elevator, not letting Taeyong see the bitter, distorted expression on his face.

Following him, Taeyong replied under his breath, laughing lightly. “He’s not like that, believe me.”

Opening the door to his workroom, he opened a cabinet next to the small couch, especially there for him to nap after working over hours. Pushing the gray turtleneck into Taeyong’s direction, he apologized. “I’m sorry, I don’t know if you like shirts like these but… I like to have them around when it’s too cold or rainy.”

“Oh, no, it’s great already. Thank you so much!” Taeyong bowed, so formal it made him burst into laughter. Raising one eyebrow the other stared at him, entertained and curious as to what caused such a reaction.

“Why are you being this formal with me? We are friends, Taeyong! You’re really an oldie just like the interns gossip around, huh?”

Face reddening, Taeyong rolled his eyes, embarrassed and relaxed at the light banter. “For your information, they think I’m younger than you.” With that, he left the room, leaving Jaehyun in there with a pout on his face. Did they really? He wasn’t even that older than them!

Sighing, he grabbed another turtleneck for him, this one all black. Dressing it and discarding his wet shirt, he thought about the fact that Taeyong was wearing one of his clothes. Must not think about couple-outfits, must not think about-

His phone vibrated.

_‘I think I’m going to keep this one! It’s very comfy. Thank you, ancient man!’_

Oh, shit. Why was that man looking that good in his grey, boring turtleneck?

Pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, Jaehyun controlled himself not to yell and startle every single living being in the building, including the one causing all this torment.

Laying down on his ‘no stress’ couch, he felt very much stressed just by thinking of everything that happened today. He had lunch with Taeyong, promised to go clubbing with him (with the rest of their friends too, but that did not matter at the moment), ran under the rain while guffawing over their ridiculousness and even had the man wearing one of his shirts at the end of it.

Jaehyun was ruining himself in such a heavenly way that he had no strength to stop it, only preparing himself for the time everything came down.

Replying, Jaehyun shook his head, disapproving of his own actions.

_‘You can keep it. It surely looks way better on you, anyway!’_


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Thanks!” Taeyong yelled, repeating it when he saw that Jaehyun had not reacted at all, most likely not having heard anything he said. Confused, he watched as Ten pulled on Jaehyun’s shirt softly, grabbing his attention and whispering something, diverting the man’s attention from him, letting go from Taeyong’s body like it burned.

Waving at him, Minjun grinned. "This way!" he mouthed, and Taeyong tried to make his way to his direction without bumping into every single living being and objects in the bar. Minji had insisted on having drinks today with him today, and seeing as he would arrive a little later, he told Minjun to go earlier to keep her company.

Today was just him, Minji and Minjun, but the woman was nowhere to be seen.

Sliding on the couch and putting his wallet on the table, he looked around, wondering where in the world she was.

"She is using the bathroom at the moment," Minjun explained, throwing an arm over his shoulders. "Not even giving me a kiss and already looking for her?" he whined, satisfied once Taeyong cupped his face and pecked his lips, muttering an apology.

"It's just that this place is packed and you never know, right? She can't handle alcohol well..."

Rolling his eyes, Minjun scoffed. "She is a grown woman; she can handle herself very well."

Slightly annoyed at the sudden rude behavior, Taeyong berated. "Grown or not, she is my friend. Of course I have to look after her. Just like I do it with you, okay?" This week has been rough and he can admit he’s a little snappy, but every word was true. God knows what ill-intentioned people can do to a person alone and under the influence of alcohol in a place like this.

Thankfully, his boyfriend realized his mistake, not getting upset at his tone of voice at all.

Pouting, Minjun apologized, pressing kisses against Taeyong's cheeks, faking pain when the other pushed his mouth away jokingly. "Stop, we're in public, oh my god!" he complained, letting himself be pulled onto his boyfriend's lap.

"Yong! Finally here, huh?" Minji arrived at the table, bringing with herself a tray full of snacks and 3 drinks. Looking at his shirt, Minji raised an eyebrow, making him feel a little unsettled for some unknown reason.

"Nice shirt, never seen you using before. I'm surprised, that style looks really good on you."

Sheepish, Taeyong smiled, looking down.

"That shirt doesn't smell like you..." Minjun noticed, frowning slightly. "Whose shirt is it?"

Now, thank God Jaehyun is Minjun's best friend or else he would have to deal with a pretty annoyed and jealous boyfriend. Explaining why he was wearing a stranger's shirt wouldn't be an easy feat either.

Rolling her eyes at the upcoming drama, Minji sipped on her drink, throwing pitying looks at Taeyong. Taking whichever support he had from her, he took a deep breath, looking right onto his boyfriend’s eyes, lips puckered just enough for him soften a little.

Kissing the man's lips once, he pouted when Minjun was unresponsive to it, grip tight on his waist. He kind of wanted to go back to his own seat, but maybe it would be better to stay where he is for now. Even if the situation looked pretty comic and simple to him, Taeyong knew it must have felt unpleasant to his boyfriend, to say the least.

"I got caught by the rain while getting back from lunch, don't be upset..." he whined, nuzzling into the dark hair. "Jaehyun was with me and lent me one of his spare shirts because mine was soaked, just that."

Frown melting, Minjun’s eyes widened in comprehension, nodding before taking a look of him in the shirt.

"Oooh, Jaehyun?" Minji looked awfully interested now. "Knew the boy had a good taste! Look, even the brand is nice." Swatting the hands away from the turtleneck, Taeyong laughed at the woman's antics.

"Leave my little brother alone, you hag." Minjun warned, scoffing when the woman glared at him. "Fine, then. If it's Jaehyun then I guess it's fine! You do look pretty in that shirt, by the way."

"Of course he does, Minjun. There is no one as pretty as Taeyong. You aren't worthy, actually." With a voice of finality, she grinned, expression not reaching her eyes at all. It was weird to see the woman acting like this, seeing as she is always so honest.

"At all."

Not liking the sudden tense atmosphere, Taeyong took a sip of his suspiciously sweet and colorful drink. He was aware of the dislike Minjun and Minji harbored towards each other, but he just didn't really understand the reason why. His boyfriend wasn't hated by many people, especially Taeyong's friends, but Minji seemed to like riling him up.

"Of course I am not, Minji. How could someone be completely worthy of him?" Minjun replied through gritted teeth. Taeyong had to sigh tiredly at that.

As if he was that precious, or something. Right.

Shaking his head, Taeyong filled his mouth with the fries in front of him. He wasn't in the mood to deal with more bickering, he had enough of that at work. Everyone seemed to forget that they should be _working_ at the company, and not fighting each other like spoiled children. The amount of warnings he distributed today was alarming.

With a yawn, Taeyong forcefully fed his boyfriend, putting a (hopefully) definite stop to the not-so-playful bantering.

"Stop with this, okay? Tyong is tired and had a pretty long day. Be nice and let me have this drink at peace!" he whined, hoping the cutesy act would be enough to distract both of them.

As usual, it was!

Minjun apologized, mouth filled with the fries, looking absolutely ridiculous. His heart swelled, leaning in to kiss the puffed cheek, wiping the oil on the corner of the man's mouth.

"Look at you, just like a child," he teased, making a face when Minjun tried to kiss him on the mouth. Minji was still quiet, looking at her cellphone with a neutral expression.

The rest of the meeting went pretty smoothly, especially if ignoring the little occasional jabs Minji and Minjun threw at each other. At least they did not sound as vicious as before. Their relationship was deteriorating every single day and Taeyong just didn't have a clue as to why. Perhaps he should ask about it, but he didn't want to upset any of them or poke around and make everything worse.

Minji was one of his best friends, a person who really took care of him. She had, from the first day, watched over him like a guardian angel, warning him about the other’s intentions and guiding him.

Minjun was his boyfriend, the man he fell in love with, who has helped so much before. The life he has now was mostly thanks to him, to the one who built him up again.

He just wanted them to get along well again.

■■■■■■

The week passed by, taking Taeyong's time, whether it was work time or free. Lunching with Minjun was scarce too, and he had to thank Jaehyun for always inviting him and their other friends to eat in different places. It could be quite tiring to eat at the same place every single day and he seemed to have a list of places near them, considerably cheap and of high quality.

His routine was the same thing these days: wake up, have breakfast with Minjun if he was lucky enough to be awake at the same as the man, work relentlessly, have lunch with his friends, work again but now dealing with the conflicts between his colleagues, try not to freak out, go home, eat dinner by himself and fall asleep.

Taeyong knew that both him and Minjun have been busy with their jobs, but he did not appreciate the fact that they only really had time for themselves at weekends. He missed going out on dinner dates, he missed being taken care of. He missed having someone to make him not freak out and hide under his sheets for weeks.

He also knew that it wouldn’t be good to say something like that out loud. It sounded too needy and pathetic. But that was who he was. Taeyong liked to look after others, but he needed the same thing back. It may be selfish, but he did expect more time and attention from Minjun, especially because it used to be like that.

Spoiled. That was what he was. He shouldn’t be desperate for attention from his boyfriend, god, the man was working for god’s sake! It wasn’t his fault and Taeyong was at his office, pitying himself, paying more attention to a pen than to his work. 

Two knocks. “Hey, what’s with the face?” Doyoung asked, biting into an apple and sitting on the chair in front of Taeyong. He probably had no problems to deal with at the business department at the moment. Jealously spread through his body. He wanted to rest for few seconds too, but demands and papers piled on top of his table.

Chuckling weakly, Taeyong put the pen down. “Nothing, really. Just tired, I guess.”

Doyoung didn’t look very convinced with his excuse, which, by the way, was partially true.

“Taeyong, you being tired is not a surprise. There is something else going on.” Doyoung deadpanned, tilting his head, waiting for a response that would be plausible enough for him.

Sighing, Taeyong’s eyes diverted for a second, stopping on the frame that rested on his table before focusing on his notebook. Maybe if he stayed quiet enough, Doyoung would think he is sick and change the topic, go all mother-hen over him. He coughed, cursing himself when it sounded too fake.

Smart as always, Doyoung made an understanding noise. “Problems with the boyfriend? What did he do now?” he asked, sounding ready to scold his older best friend. “Wait!” he exclaimed, startling Taeyong. “Let me guess…he didn’t do his part of the house chores this week?”

Trying to hold in his laughter, Taeyong shook his head.

“Oh, then I already know! He said ‘no pets’ again!” Doyoung said, finger tapping against his own chin, really immersed on guessing what Minjun had done to upset him.

“No, but I’m still upset at that. He has no allergies! Why can’t we get a pet or two?” Taeyong complained, frowning. That one didn’t make him feel sad but angry. He should thank Doyoung from distracting him for a few seconds.

“It’s because you won’t only get a pet. You’ll probably get a dozen of different species and build your own zoo inside the apartment.”

Now, that was a lie. “I would not!” he gasped, offended. Doyoung made an unimpressed face at him, leading to the start of their own very fight. Taeyong knew he had quite some stuff to work on right now but in no way he was about to lose this argument, not to Doyoung and not when it was about his self-control and the probability of him having pets.

Passing by the door, Jaehyun encountered a war scene, both of his friends almost on each other’s necks while yelling about random animals. From the look on his face, he had no idea what was going on and was almost giving up on entering Taeyong’s office, slowly stepping back before turning around when Taeyong told him to come in, still bickering with Doyoung.

“I am responsible enough to have a pet snake, you are jealous you can’t even raise a bunny without accidentally giving him coffee!” Taeyong snapped, huffing when Doyoung made a face at him, showing his tongue like a petulant child.

“He drank it by himself, it wasn’t my fault!” Doyoung defended himself, nodding in Jaehyun’s direction, barely acknowledging the other’s presence before glaring at Taeyong again. He decided it would be fair enough to grab his friend’s apple, ignoring the whines.

Mouth full, Taeyong grabbed the papers Jaehyun had in his hands, groaning when he saw more problems to deal with.

“Uh, are you okay?” Jaehyun asked, still standing outside, looking afraid. Guiding the younger man inside the room, Taeyong told him to sit down, taking another bite before throwing it on Doyoung’s direction.

“You! It almost hit my face!” the man complained, unpleased at how the fruit had safely landed on his hands, leaving him no excuses to lament. Paying no mind to the drama, Taeyong sat on his own chair, a smile almost appearing on his face at the expense of Jaehyun’s weirded out expression, wary of Doyoung and even Taeyong. The scene he saw must have been quite chaotic.

“I’m fine… just a lot of work and Doyoung being a pain in the butt,” he explained, snickering when Jaehyun nodded in understanding, trying to comfort him. “What happened for you to come all the way here, though?”

Scratching his neck, Jaehyun wore a bashful look. “One of your subordinates made an employee benefits program but it did not have some things the people in our department asked for? I’m sorry but you really need to revise this, they are making me very angry with how many times they have knocked on my door and talked shit about the HR department. I don’t really have time for that, so please just take a look and see if it’s possible to add some of the things they ask. If not, just tell to me why not and I will make a meeting and explain everything.” In a huff, he finished talking, still sounding very sorry for the disturbance, as if dealing with that wasn’t Taeyong’s job.

Reading some pages quickly, Taeyong bit his lip, unsure. “Yeah, sure. It’ll take me a while, though. They are right to complain, apparently there is almost nothing in here of which we agreed on with the higher ups.” While it was good that the complaint wasn’t in vain, he was surely frustrated over how the person responsible for doing the project had messed up that bad. He’d have to do everything again. Just the thought made him want to cry.

“Tyong? Are you crying…?” Doyoung asked, catching Taeyong’s attention.

Shit. His eyes were wet, but his fingers told him he had not cried in front of his friends out of stress yet. “No, no!” he laughed, sniffling. “Allergies, you know how I get when it’s raining, right?”

Now he had Jaehyun and Doyoung looking unconvinced, both staring at him with worry on their faces. He didn’t want to talk about it, didn’t want to explain anything, but surely this wouldn’t be forgotten by the men in front of him.

“Stop-” Doyoung started, almost annoyed, being quickly interrupted by Jaehyun and his usual This-Is-Awkward laugh.

“You are my savior, thank you so much! Take your time, it’s completely fine!” he exhaled dramatically, crying out in pain when Doyoung elbowed him, muttering something about ‘disgusting…crush…over’. Taeyong couldn’t comprehend much but was slightly amused by the unusual behavior of the man. Jaehyun wasn’t this goofy in front of him, only acting like that in front of his older friends. It made him feel welcomed, close too.

“Okay, okay, no problem.” Taeyong snorted, yelping in surprise when the younger man shook hands with him, bowing endlessly. Perhaps the people in his department had really been bothering him for quite some time, Taeyong thought, entertained.

By the end of it, Taeyong had already buried the ever-present concerns deep inside in a place his brain kept notes to take care of later.

Looking at his wristwatch, Doyoung cursed. “It’s time for me to go, shit. Apparently, I still have to work in order to have money. Shameful.” Brushing his pants, he took one of the sweets on Taeyong’s table, unwrapping and tossing it into his mouth. “See y’all later-”

“Wait a bit,” Jaehyun piped up. “We are going to the club tomorrow. All of us.” he said, glaring at Taeyong threateningly, as least he thought so. To Taeyong he looked like a displeased puppy.

“Fine by me!” Doyoung shrugged, stretching before saying goodbye and walking out of the room, leaving Jaehyun there to convince Taeyong. He didn’t need it, however. He’d gladly accept company from his friends, and he also understood that having his mind only focusing on working and missing his boyfriend wasn’t doing any good.

Expectantly, Jaehyun stared at him, probably ready to destroy all of his excuses.

Humming, Taeyong turned around on his chair, pretending to think hard. “Let me see if I can…” he responded, now facing the other again.

Frowning, Jaehyun complained, talking about how he was the one who wanted to go out with their friends and that he had everything organized and that even Minji had agreed on going. Yet, nothing about whether Minjun would go too. Taeyong asked about it, receiving an unsure answer, being explained that his boyfriend was trying to rush things in work to be able to go out without missing any deadlines.

Disappointed, Taeyong sighed, trying not to let his mouth betray him and produce a cranky pout. “I am going with you, then” he decided, worrying over how Jaehyun choked on his own saliva, face turning slightly red. The man said he was fine, though, waving his hands in dismissal.

“Great!” Jaehyun exclaimed in a high-pitched voice, promptly standing up. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then, uh- bye! Have a nice day and take an umbrella it’s raining a lot” rambling, Taeyong watched, taken aback with how many words Jaehyun had said in few seconds, almost incomprehensible.

Closing the door behind him, Jaehyun left, not giving the opportunity for Taeyong to say anything back. Sometimes the younger was quite strange, he thought, shaking his head amusedly, laughing softly.

Back to work, Taeyong immersed himself in it, feeling much lighter than before. The surprise distraction had worked perfectly, without him even noticing. Tomorrow would be fun, too. Take deep breaths and go ahead, he told himself, bursting into laughter when he saw the half-eaten apple on top of his couch, a present from Doyoung.

■■■■■■

It turned out that after much convincing, Minjun agreed on going out with their friends, much to his joy. The man did look tired, but these days who did not? All of them were in a time in their careers that demanded a lot, but that should not stop them from living a little.

That was something that took a lot of time for Taeyong to understand. He still tried to deny himself of good things sometimes, but with a little more thinking and ignoring his own self-punishing tendencies, he could get over it. It was hard, but he couldn’t give up on his happiness, not now when his life was finally back on its tracks.

Putting on his jacket, Taeyong stared at himself through the mirror, liking what he saw. Another thing that came after many years of therapy. Smiling, he chose an earring, tilting his head, playing with the dangly part of it. A gift from Minjun, he remembered fondly, fingertips tracing the golden piece like they could feel the moment it happened.

Hugging him from behind, Minjun pressed a kiss on his neck, burying his face there. Grinning, he shivered as the kisses went on, innocent but on a very sensitive place for him.

“Go get ready, where is your shirt, huh? You can’t go out like this.” Worrying his lip, Taeyong gasped when his boyfriend sucked on a spot, smacking his ass with his shirt before dressing himself. Laughing, Minjun scurried out of the room, avoiding the kick Taeyong aimed at him.

“Come on, let’s go! They are waiting for us already!” he yelled, as if he wasn’t the one half naked a few minutes ago when Taeyong had been ready for at least 15 minutes.

The ride was quick and uneventful, having decided on taking a taxi, since the couple already expected to have alcohol included in their friends’ plans. Both of them were not heavy drinkers, occasionally having wine on some date nights, or beer when they had fried chicken to go with it. When they were with their friends, though, it was almost impossible not to indulge some more, even going over their limits sometimes, he reminded himself, wincing at a particular memory of them waking up on the bathroom’s floor of Johnny’s house.

Taeyong pretty much distracted himself with the night view of the city, wistfully sending looks to his boyfriend, only to see him with a frown while staring at his cellphone. Amazing. He could only hope he’d let go of the device by the time they met the others, work surely could wait. He let it go, deciding on not saying anything about the issue, since they were already arriving at their destined place, muffled music faint but there.

As always, the club was loud and moderately dark, heated bodies all over the place, people so close to each other that it looked like they were trying to mold themselves into one sometimes. Taeyong didn’t mind it a bit, the scene actually reminded him of the times he still had disposition to go out and have fun dancing, meeting new people and maybe find some company for the rest of the night. It’s something not many of his (not-really) new close friends knew, but it didn’t bring him any shame. Perhaps he would surprise many of them today, seeing as they had never seen him in a place like this, dancing, drinking and having some silly fun.

Fingers interlaced with his, Minjun guided him to where his friends were supposed to be. With an excited yell, his boyfriend waved to them and Taeyong couldn’t help but laugh at how they were sitting around the table they rented, Johnny already leading some kind of fucked up alcoholic game. He didn’t know for how long his friends had been there but he could see that poor Doyoung and Ten were ready to slam Johnny into a wall if he didn’t stop giving them more soju. Comprehensible.

“Hey! Finally! Were you two fucking, or something?” Doyoung complained, cursing Minjun and his whole family when the man nudged him too strongly, making him spill some soju on his shirt. Taeyong flushed at the question, embarrassed even if nothing of the sorts happened. Pretending he didn’t hear anything, he greeted everyone with a smile, trying to conceal his excitement at having the opportunity to dance for hours, just like in the past.

“Jaehyun, pass me that beer, I’m making some special drink for our new company” Johnny wiggled his eyebrows, making the younger cringe a little, knowing very well what Johnny was capable of concocting to make Taeyong and Minjun drunk as hell.

Minjun laughed, sitting down next to the taller man, motioning for Taeyong to sit by his side. “Yong can’t handle alcohol that much, Johnny” he reminded, shaking his head at how Johnny dismissed his concern, promising that it would be something ‘inoffensive’. Sure it would.

Taeyong was now in front of a blushing Jaehyun, probably already affected after quite a few shots and drinks served to him. He gaped at how the other drank the soju by the bottle, chugging the liquid like it was water. Not only him was surprised, apparently. With wide eyes, Ten stared at Jaehyun with a worried look, shocked enough to look comical. Understandable, though, Taeyong, too, was very much impressed and quite jealous, to be honest. He could only wish to have this much alcohol tolerance. His liver hurt just to think about drinking all of that.

“Man,” Ten put a comforting hand on Jaehyun’s shoulder, patting it. “Are you okay? The fuck was that? You almost ended the whole bottle and that shit is strong.” Laughing, Jaehyun put the bottle down, voice somewhat rough and clumsy at the same time. He was definitely, at the very least, tipsy.

“I am _great_!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air, looking ridiculously childish. Taeyong snorted, faking a cough midway when the man glared at him, pouty and visibly annoyed. “You don’t believe in me? You laughing? I am great, Lee Taeyong!” Taeyong nodded, of course, explaining that he would never laugh at him, that he knew that Jaehyun was great indeed, holding in his laughter as Jaehyun agreed in appreciation, almost melting against the chair like a fed and spoiled cat.

Cackling, Minjun reached over to grab the cup Johnny offered to him, not noticing the way his younger friend was now glaring at _him_. “You dare laugh at me, hyung? Isn’t it enough that you got hi-” Jaehyun started to grumble, protesting audibly when Ten forcibly shut his mouth, shoving a strawberry inside it. Taeyong tilted his head in confusion, the music was too loud for him to fully understand Jaehyun’s rambling. Got him? Got hit? What in the world was that drunk talk?

Clapping his hands nervously, Ten got up, bringing Jaehyun with him. “Our Jaehyunie here really needs to dance and sweat out a little of the humongous amount of alcohol he drank since he got here, right?” he asked kindly, nudging Jaehyun hard when the man spaced out, staring at something behind Taeyong with an interested gaze, eyes dark and shiny. Probably saw food or someone incredibly beautiful, Taeyong thought, quickly brushing away the idea when he heard that they were going to dance.

“Oi, I want to dance too!” Taeyong perked up, standing from his seat. “Wait for me, just a sec, okay?” he asked, turning to Minjun, not seeing the way Ten’s previous smile had turned unsure and Jaehyun scowled, fumbling around trying to reach the soju bottle again before Johnny snatched it away, shaking his head disapprovingly.

Brushing his boyfriend’s hair affectionately, he leaned down a bit, kissing the man’s cheek. “Come dance with me, mmh? Come on, baby,” he cajoled, brushing his lips against Minjun’s, making a pleased noise at how the other deepened it for a second before letting go.

Taking a deep breath, Minjun gave him an apologetic look, squeezing his waist for a second. “Not in the mood right now, Yong. Can I go later? I really want to catch up with the boys, it’s been so long…”

Trying to hide his disappointment, Taeyong smiled stiffly, knowing very well that it did not reach his eyes, heart clenching at the rejection. It was unreasonable. His body’s reaction had to be unreasonable, childish. How could he be upset over his boyfriend wanting to spend time with his friends, friends that he had not seen for probably weeks. Still, there was little he could do to feel better with the response he gained.

“No problem! I’ll go with Ten and Jaehyun, then. No, I’m not upset,” he replied eagerly, waving his hands like it wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t supposed to be, he believed. “Have fun and don’t forget to order some snacks for when I come back, okay? Don’t you dare forget my food!” Taeyong threatened jokingly, satisfied when Minjun promised not to, giving him one last kiss.

Squeezing their way through the sea of people, Taeyong loosened up as the music got even louder, gasping when a hand wrapped around his wrist, pulling him closer to a body. Looking up, he recognized Jaehyun, being guided in the same way by Ten, who was searching for the most comfortable place for them to dance. Even in the middle of so many people, so much heat, Jaehyun wasn’t sweaty nor smelling like alcohol, peppermint scent clinging to him stubbornly, invading Taeyong’s senses pleasantly.

It was comforting, familiar like the lunches between workdays, the same smell as the grey turtleneck that still was at his house. Well, Jaehyun did tell him to keep it. However, to keep another man’s outfit and keep on using it, even if his boyfriend’s best friend, almost sibling, was not something appropriate at all. He planned on returning on their next working day.

Distracted, Taeyong slammed into Jaehyun’s back once the other stopped, face reddening in shame at his clumsiness. Ready to apologize, he got interrupted by Ten stepping between them, talking to Taeyong about thrilled he was that he was there too, making him feel giddy at the thought of being wanted by his friends. It was silly, but it felt good to know he had people who appreciated his presence and made plans for him to be there.

Excited, he talked about how he only mentioned wanting to go out to a club with them and Jaehyun has promised to organize it, much to his relief. He was terrible with organizing outings and overall meetings that were not work-related. With raised eyebrows, Ten hummed, throwing a look at Jaehyun, who was too busy feeling himself with his weird-ass dance moves. Taeyong would never say out loud that his moves were weird, god knows how drunk Jaehyun would react to that. Let’s say he that looked like an uncle. Incredibly entertaining to both of them, Ten grinned, promptly following the steps, uncaring at how some people were starting to stare at the trio.

As much as following Jaehyun’s dance was entertaining and overall a great experience, Taeyong was slowly losing himself to the music, enjoying the way the soundwaves seem to run through his veins. It was addicting and he certainly had missed this feeling, smiling to himself, eyes closed as drops of sweat slowly slid down his neck and back, heat warming his body and heart.

He didn’t need to know the song, just the beat was enough to wake up his body.

Slowly opening his eyes, he saw how Ten was, unsurprisingly, incredibly good at dancing, moves riling him up to go harder too, to let go more. Jaehyun wasn’t bad either, but very much more contained, moves clean but skilled, as if he had experience with dance before. He wasn’t the one he had seen a few songs ago, dancing goofily. Jaehyun definitely could keep up with both of them, much to his surprise and delight.

Taeyong wasn’t by any means drunk, but the world seemed to be spinning, the crowded room not seeming that full anymore. His eyes were busy and his mind was fuzzy, uncaring even when the space the trio had slowly turned smaller and smaller. Everything was alright, until someone bumped into him, firm hands holding him by the waist so he wouldn’t slip and fall.

Again, Jaehyun. The man was drunk but still had pretty good reflexes, he noticed, uncomfortably squished between a random person and his younger friend, who also had no personal space, pretty much against Ten too.

“Thanks!” Taeyong yelled, repeating it when he saw that Jaehyun had not reacted at all, most likely not having heard anything he said. Confused, he watched as Ten pulled on Jaehyun’s shirt softly, grabbing his attention and whispering something, diverting the man’s attention from him, letting go from Taeyong’s body like it burned.

Shrugging, Taeyong went back to dancing, curious as to why Ten was still whispering something to Jaehyun, bodies so close it looked like they were in the middle of some heavy flirting. Maybe it was, but he never saw any kind of romantic interest growing between the two. It could be a one-night thing, too.

Just as he thought so, they let go of each other, Ten once again interested on creating some impromptu choreography with him. Not one to reject some fun, he went with it, trying to keep up with all the hip-movements Ten incorporated into his own dancing. No really something he was used to doing, but definitely interesting enough for him to try.

Once the song ended, they high fived, Taeyong pretty much wasted from the exertion. It had been a while, after all.

Much to his surprise, what he first saw was Jaehyun talking to a smaller man, whom he could only see the smaller build, dark hair and even darker big eyes. 

Jaws open, Taeyong and Ten stared in awe as Jaehyun kissed the boy, both not even noticing how Minjun had arrived to the dancefloor, hollering as his best friend pressed against the man like he was starving. Taeyong surely wasn’t expecting to see Jaehyun running his hands through the boy with so much want, giving so much and taking even more, uncaring whether people were watching his moves or not.

“What the fuck?” Ten laughed, incredulous, looking very pleased at the same time. “We leave him alone for 3 minutes and he is already making out with some hot guy? I am thoroughly jealous.” he complained, earning a few snickers from Taeyong. The man was quite fast indeed. It was just enough time for Ten and Taeyong turn around to dance for a second for their friend to find someone who could entertain him.

“To be honest, I thought you two were going to hook up” Taeyong admitted, raising his hands defensively when Ten looked at him with a freaked-out expression. “What? Me and Jaehyun? He’s cute but only friend type, you know? My type is a bit bigger, like-” he elaborated, offended when Minjun decided that he, too, should be making out with someone.

Not really sorry, Taeyong closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s neck, smiling into the kiss. Minjun has always been a great kisser and today was no exception, but there was something off about their kiss, slightly different from how it used to be. Pulling away, Taeyong stared into the other’s eyes, bringing their lips together once again before letting him go.

“Were you smoking, baby?” Taeyong asked, even if he already knew the answer.

Rubbing the nape of his neck, Minjun made an apologetic face. “Yeah, had to go out to deal with something on my phone and had a cigarette. Is it bothering you a lot?” he asked, also knowing very well the real reply, despite Taeyong answering something else.

“Not really, but I thought you had stopped smoking for once and all. Like you promised.” Seeing as he didn’t want to talk about anything serious at the moment, he decided to drop it, searching around only to notice that Ten was long gone and Jaehyun was still getting on with the man. Damn, he must be really enjoying it. 

“Wanna go back with me to our table? Also, Minji arrived right after you came here. She was looking for you.” Minjun said, rolling his eyes at the last bit. Ignoring it as well, he nodded, heart skipping a beat when his boyfriend softly held his hand, playing with his fingers, opening the way so they could reach their group’s spot. The hold, at least, was still the very same thing. Loving and careful, handling his hands like something precious, a thumb caressing the back of it all along the way.

Looking back, his steps slowed down. “Is Jaehyun going to be fine by himself? I mean, he looked kind of…very intoxicated” Taeyong asked, worried. Maybe the both of them could wait until he finished his business or send someone else to keep an eye on him.

Shaking his head, Minjun brushed it off, laughing. “Nah, he’ll be okay. He’s not one to go away with a one-night stand and not even tell us, believe me. Actually, he does not have one-night stands at all. He’s definitely coming back to our table later.”

Convinced, Taeyong followed Minjun, waving excitedly when he saw Minji at the table, beaming at him. The woman was the only person looking acceptable, the only one who did not take a piece of clothing off or was trying to end the club’s alcohol stock. Doyoung was passed out on the table, while Johnny and Ten were already playing another game, two towers of canned beer ready for them. Jesus Christ. Hopefully, they wouldn’t beg him to participate in whatever plans they had for those.

“Come sit next to me, sweaty mess.” Minji teased, passing him paper napkins and a cup of water. Thankful, he beamed at her, snorting when Minjun claimed he was the one who got the cup of water. “Now _that_ makes you a perfect boyfriend, huh? Amazing!” Minji exclaimed sarcastically, giving his boyfriend a middle finger when he called her ‘fucking annoying’.

Oh, not this again, Taeyong thought, sighing before chugging down the water.

“Anyway,” Minji stretched her arms, eyes shining with mirth. “Where is the better and improved version of the asshole?” she asked, obviously referring to Jaehyun. Minjun tried his best to ignore her, but still ended up telling her to ‘trip and choke’.

“Why in the world is he a version of my boyfriend, Minji?” Taeyong asked tiredly, sighing. “And he is at the dancefloor, making out pretty heavily with a tiny boy with huge eyes and long legs. Quite attractive, must I say.”

“He is not tiny; he is like your height” Ten added and Taeyong frowned. Was he _that_ small in real life? The boy looked quite small in build.

Amused, the woman scratched her chin, and Taeyong already knew she was up to something. “So, he is making out with a club version of you?” Minji tilted her head, confused. “Well, I can definitely say that ‘Club-You’ is way luckier than you, babe.” She patted his hair and if Taeyong wasn’t too happy and high because of the dancefloor, he’d probably feel offended in his boyfriend’s behalf. The feeling from dancing was still running through his body, too much pleasure to make him upset for now, though. Not only that but he was tired of meddling in their business, he wasn’t the one fighting anyone, why should he always try to produce apologies?

“Don’t talk like that, my baby is amazing. Aren’t you?” Taeyong drawled out, teasing, kissing all over the man’s face as he fretted, ready to fight Minji for the nth time in the week. This time, he’d have a reason to. He could feel a headache forming, just thinking about how he’d have to deal with a cranky Minjun for the rest of the night. It was getting more and more difficult to interact with his boyfriend and Minji at the same time. Humor and cutesy acts wouldn’t be enough to keep them at ‘peace’ for forever.

Throwing Minji a threatening glare, his boyfriend wrapped an arm around Taeyong’s shoulders, kissing his temple. Silence was the best gift he could have given Taeyong right now, seeing as that would end their bickering for now. Satisfied, he kissed the man’s cheek in return, mumbling praises into the skin, taking in the citric perfume clinging onto his boyfriend’s skin. “Don’t mind her, mmh? She is just joking.” Whispering into Minjun’s ears, he tried appeasing the other, caressing, with his lips, a place right under the other’s jaw, nipping it playfully.

“Joking, my ass,” Minjun mumbled, fingers tapping relentlessly on the table. Okay, it was very likely that Minji wasn’t joking at all, and Taeyong knew it. He tried to make her be more…nice towards his boyfriend but the woman wouldn’t budge, claiming that it was ‘only 1% from what he really deserved to hear’. Upset, he tried to ask her why she was being so mean, always sharp when it came to his boyfriend, only receiving a disappointed stare back, shaking her head. She claimed it was a ‘work’ issue, and that she had, indeed, exaggerated, apologizing. It didn’t last for long.

Thankfully, after the conflict, he was able to fall into an easy conversation with his friend, asking her about her life, laughing over all the histories she had thanks to her new interns. Minjun participated briefly, only interacting when Taeyong directly talked to him or anyone but Minji spoke, busying himself with Ten’s and Johnny’s shenanigans. Which, by the way, were turning more and more alcohol induced, the towers of canned beer slowly turning smaller as their newly created game went on. Taeyong couldn’t understand the rules or goals of the game. May it didn’t have one, but they were surely having tons of fun with it, even trying to wake up Doyoung a few times to join them. Doyoung waved a clenched fist back, promptly falling asleep again.

In the middle of everything, an incredibly messy looking Jaehyun showed up, no traces of the boy who was with him previously. With a huff, he sat down, stealing a beer from Johnny and taking a huge gulp. He looked like a tiger just mauled him and Taeyong really, really tried his best not to burst into laughter, snorting when Johnny asked if he was at the zoo, or something.

“I don’t fucking know what was that,” he said, face comically blank, groaning when Minjun poked a particularly huge hickey on his neck. “It hurts, goddamn, is that man a dog?” Jaehyun grumbled, glaring when his friends cackled at his expense, clearly not feeling an ounce of pity.

“Well, was it good at least?” Minjun questioned, interested in the juicy details. “And if _you_ came out of the kiss like this, then what about that poor boy? Oh god.”

Giving them a sarcastic laugh, Jaehyun stared at himself through his phone’s camera, sighing when he saw the state of his neck, purple and red all over, looking like a painting. Taeyong felt for him.

Felt jealousy. Why couldn’t his boyfriend do the same right now? God knows how long he’d been waiting for a steamy (smoking-free) make out which resulted in some heavy marking. But no, they were now an old married couple, apparently, so nope, no dirty kissing in public.

“Oh, he is just fine, nothing he couldn’t handle” Jaehyun explained absent-mindedly, eyes widening in confusion when they ooh-ed and whistled. “What? What? He really is fine, at least looking better than me,” he grumbled, pushing a cube of ice against a purple spot.

“Why are you looking like death, dude?” Minji asked, a glint in her eyes as Jaehyun rambled on about how he was expecting one thing but got another back, pitifully complaining about how the boy had bit him in a very unsexy way.

Taeyong's distracted smile melted into a confused one. "Hey...Isn't that the intern from Minjun's office that is helping us with the juridical process?" The girl was standing by the bar, looking like she was by herself, which, for him, was a little odd.

"Yeah, it's her. She's looking at you, oh god. See? I was right, she does have a crush on you!" Jaehyun said, eyes wide like he made an extremely important discover. Taeyong still disagreed, even if the girl was indeed sending him looks.

Clicking his tongue in pity, Johnny shook his head. "Poor thing. He's gay and taken, sweetheart. You could try Jaehyun, though! He's bi, single and ready to-"

Throwing him an offended glare, Jaehyun interrupted Johnny, pointing a finger at him threateningly. "Don't ever finish that sentence in front of me, I swear to god."

Still thinking about whether the young girl was romantically interested in him or not, Taeyong's face scrunched up in wonder, now uncomfortable with the stares that did not stop coming. "She does not have a crush on me... She is probably surprised to see so many seniors here, ok? I mean, I'd be kind of freaked out if my boss was here..." Shivering, Taeyong looked away, busying himself with how a stranger decided to grind against a pole near them. Amazing.

"I can't fucking believe in that shit..." Minji cursed, agitated all of a sudden. Extremely displeased, she put down the half-full cup of water, busying herself with throwing her keys back into a black purse.

"What is wrong, woman?" Ten blurted out, just as puzzled as everyone at the table.

"I'm so sorry but I really need to leave before I commit a generous list of crimes in this place." Minji hissed, laughing nervously at the same time. What was she on? Taeyong certainly didn't understand.

"What? Crimes?!" Jaehyun shrieked, looking panicked at the thought of gruesome crimes happening in front of him. To his defense, they all could see he wasn't entirely sober. Far from that, actually. So, the panic was very valid for a drunk person.

"Just kidding! I forgot to feed my dog, he must be starving, I really can't stay any longer. I'll see you all later, alright?" She apologized, taking her purse and throwing her long hair back. Pausing in front of Taeyong for a second, she stared at him, closing her eyes and pinching her nose as if physically hurting. Perhaps it was a bad sinusitis case.

"Minji? Are you feeling okay? Do you want us to accompany you?" Taeyong worried, feeling Minjun's grip on his waist tighten.

"We could take you home, too. If you are feeling ill, we can take a cab together." His boyfriend added.

Chest heaving, Minji stared coldly at Minjun. Taeyong didn't catch what happened for her to be upset with him, but maybe it was just her typical dislike slipping into her expression.

Ignoring Minjun altogether, she turned to Taeyong's direction, lips curling at the corners. "I'm fine, Yong. Don't mind me, I just forgot to feed my dog, really. It's been a rushed day, so I'm a little forgetful." Waving, she left the place, also leaving all of them befuddled.

Sipping his beer, Minjun whistled. "That was weird." Everyone agreed with a few nods, shrugging before going back to their previous activities.

Everyone but Jaehyun, who still searched for the girl. Maybe he was the one with a crush!

"She is not there anymore?" Jaehyun blinked, sounding suspiciously relieved.

Taeyong grinned. "No, she is not. Were you wanting her to be?" he teased, watching as the man fumbled with his words before making a face. "She is what? Nineteen? Hell no, not my type at all."

"What is your type then?" Taeyong pushed, keeping his laughter at bay even as Jaehyun flushed in embarrassment, much to Minjun's amusement. Ten and Johnny stopped to hear his reply, tilting their heads while using their hands to keep the now destroyed beer pyramid raised.

Scratching his cheek, Jaehyun mumbled. "I like older people, I guess? I-I don't really have a type." Voice turning weaker at the end, his fingers played with the rim of the can, avoiding.

Going back to their game, the duo sighed in relief at the response, like it was satisfying enough to both of them.

"Just like Taeyong, then." Minjun replied offhandedly, earning wide eyed stares and tense postures from his friends. "Taeyong also likes older people...?" he added, uncertain, wondering why the trio in front of him looked so relaxed again.

"I don't mind the age as long it's not too much different from mine, to be honest." Taeyong explained, still oblivious to the ever-changing reactions surrounding him. "I only mind whether the person likes me or not, I guess?" he pondered. That and fidelity. And not minding pets, especially his precious Ruby.

"Fair enough. I feel the same as well." Minjun finished, exploring his own pockets before fishing out a packet of cigarettes, much to Taeyong's distaste. Lips thinning, he observed quietly as the man got up and brushed his pants, kissing him. "Don't look at me like that, I will stop by next week, hm? Don't be upset."

Humming, Taeyong brushed it off, accepting the kisses enthusiastically but not believing much in the promises. "Sure thing, baby, sure." He said in disbelief, giggling when his boyfriend wouldn't stop pecking his face, trying to butter him up. "I'll come back, ok? Just one." Looking around, he asked if any of his friends wanted to have a smoke with him, even if none of them smoked. Jaehyun twitched in his seat, much to Taeyong's surprise. Was he...?

Nope, just a drunk Jaehyun wiggling around.

"I'll be back soon!" Nodding, Taeyong waved back, losing himself in the office gossip Ten, Johnny and Jaehyun heard. Apparently, the interns were in the company not only to work but find some love, he concluded, surprised to know that a certain group was decided on starting Ten's official fan club.

Thank God Taeyong did not have to worry about something like that, only to them teasing him about the girl who seemed to be either scared shitless of him or was deeply infatuated.

Between the talk, Jaehyun excused himself, saying that he was going to keep Minjun some company, worried. He had indeed spent a long time outside, which wasn't good because he was probably smoking the whole packet or managed to get lost. Glad, Taeyong, smiled, telling him to come back with the man and no cigarettes.

Saluting, he went away, missing the plate of snacks served to them by the management. Free food and well-made drinks? Was it heaven?

"Should we be eating this much on a club, like, it's that what the youth do?" Johnny asked, looking battered but decided on shoving a mouthful of peanuts inside his mouth. Ten stared at him in amazed disgust, sipping on his own drink.

Tipsy after finishing his third cup, Taeyong frowned. "Aren't we the youth anymore?" When did his youth finish? Was he a full time adult now? That was a lot to process.

"Nah, nah." Doyoung woke up, shaking his hand. "We are young! But also, a little old. Jaehyun is the only one real young person in our group, I think." He slurred, earning sad nods from the rest. Ah, the golden 25.

Perking up, Taeyong's eyes shined. "I look like I'm 23, though! Maybe I can adult a little less?" Considering his argument, Johnny agreed. "I guess we all can. But what were we talking about and why do we want to adult less?" Confused, they spaced out.

Opening his mouth to explain, Ten got interrupted by an irate Jaehyun. Startled, Taeyong asked what had happened, only earning back a frustrated cry from the man. Looking closely, the rim of his eyes was suspiciously red, tip of nose in the same color. Jaehyun's hands trembled, fumbling to get his things. Another person rushing home?

"Jaehyun what is going on?" Ten asked, nudging a dazed Johnny and perplexed Doyoung. "Stop for a second!" he ordered sternly, distress in his eyes when the man didn't stop, moving as if on automatic.

Reaching a hand to touch Jaehyun's wrist, Taeyong felt a pinch of hurt when his friend flinched, looking at him with tears on his eyes. "Where is Minjun? What is going on?" he asked softly, turning more and more concerned by the second at the expression he got back as answer.

Eyes closed shut, Jaehyun made a pained noise again. "I'm sorry, I didn't-" he muttered. "I didn't see him," Jaehyun choked out, taking his hand back and apologizing again to all of them, saying he was alright.

Obviously, no one believed in him, but he was too quick, leaving them baffled and worried. What happened?

Winded up, Minjun rushed in.

"Minjun did you meet with Jaehyun? He was going after you." Johnny questioned, already closing the tab, taking his wallet and phone. Someone definitely had to check on Jaehyun, he never acted like that before.

Shaking his head, Minjun shrugged, confused. "No? I didn't see him at all. Did something happen?" Taeyong could listen traces of nervousness in the tone of his voice, wondering if they really didn't meet outside. Jaehyun and Minjun didn't fight, though. They really got along well, so them meeting creating such a reaction from Jaehyun wasn't clicking.

Blinking, Taeyong snapped out of the trance he was, still thinking about how Jaehyun had looked at him with such an amount of anguish.

"Nothing. Let's go, I'll explain to you later, okay?"

He never got to explain it, deciding on leaving it for now.

Just in case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> People. Please talk to me about this I'm so weirded out by my writing and idk why help!!! 
> 
> If you ever feel like:  
> https://ko-fi.com/livingliv  
> https://curiouscat.me/mecoupstastu  
> @mecoupstastu


	4. Chapter 4

Jaehyun had spent the next week avoiding Taeyong.

Not only him, but the rest of his friends too, only interacting when strictly needed. He didn't know what he was supposed to, to be honest. Not opening up was probably making everything worse, but he couldn't bear to look at Taeyong, Doyoung, Johnny or Ten without feeling nauseated.

How was he supposed to explain the fact that their best friend was cheating on Taeyong with a girl that worked on the same place as them?

How was he supposed to explain that he had to hold himself back and pray, _pray_ not to lose control and resort to violence against Minjun?

Jaehyun spent one, two weeks just wondering whether he had the courage to break the news to Taeyong. He came to a conclusion that no, he did not. He was a coward. But between him and Minjun, he was sure he wasn’t the biggest asshole in this history.

Each time he remembers how he had followed after Minjun, just a few moments later after he’d gone out to smoke, wondering whether he was fine or needed some company outside only to see him with that girl, embraced like lovers, oh. It makes him sick to the core.

What if it had been Taeyong the one to go outside? Didn’t he really care? Wasn’t he ashamed of acting like that where his boyfriend could easily see him?

He watched, frozen on the spot, as the two talked and laughed freely, loud and _fucking annoying_. 

After some time, he just wasn’t able to hear anything, white noise echoing in his ears as he thought about the 3 years of relationship, _that wasn’t even his_ , tumbling down because of his best friend’s infidelity. A relationship that, supposedly, had saved Taeyong, that was his pride and only focus in life besides his job.

Saved all right.

Walking in their direction, Jaehyun laughed at himself, shaking his head in disbelief. That had to be a joke or the result of his fertile imagination, of his jealous and longing self, always expecting something to happen so he’d have the opportunity to make his move. It was probably _him_ being gross.

“What are you doing Minjun?” he asked calmly, just like the sea before a storm. Breath steady, he watched in slow motion as the couple parted, and it was laughable. The girl looked at him with wide, shocked eyes, lips trembling in fear, red lipstick perfectly in place. Good. She came prepared, didn’t she?

Stepping closer to his friend, he stared at him, not giving away an ounce of emotion. “What. Are. You. Doing,” Jaehyun insisted, no longer asking anything. He didn’t need to question anymore, not when everything has been explained by itself.

“Jaehyun,” Minjun stammered, completely ending any touch between him and the girl as he let go of her arm. Closing his eyes, Jaehyun took a deep breath, shaking his head. No, he just couldn’t believe in this. Why did it have to be him the one to see this? God must be playing a prank on him. “I-I can explain, I,” the older man went on, quickly interrupted by him.

“What can you explain? What the _fuck_ you can explain, Minjun? Go ahead, tell me why you are all over another person when your boyfriend is inside that _goddamn_ club praising you like there is no fucking tomorrow, talking about how you are perfect and all the other things _we both know_ are lies!”

“Stop yelling! You are causing a scene!” Minjun exclaimed, noticing that the few people outside were already staring and whispering to themselves. He just didn’t care one bit. He wasn’t the one supposed to be ashamed. “I _can_ explain. Just not now, not here.”

“ _Not here_?” Jaehyun snorted, humorless. “You can fuck around with other people here and right now, but cannot explain why in the world you are cheating on Taeyong instead of just breaking up with him?” He knew very well that he was screaming at this point, alcohol, frustration and pure hatred contributing to his outburst.

The girl beside Minjun flinched, looking ashamed at the attention on them. “I- I just- I think it’s better for me to leave,” she whispered, earning a nod from Minjun. Jaehyun thought that of course he’d agree. Take the easy way again, then.

Any other day, he’d let this pass. Not today, though.

“You _will stay_.” Jaehyun shouted, glaring at her. “You are part of this, aren’t you? You weren’t ashamed to spend the whole night glancing at our table, following this _fucking douchebag_ everywhere. This is your doing too. If you feel humiliated, then maybe you shouldn’t have been here kissing a man who has a boyfriend inside that club waiting for him.”

Pointing to the entrance, he watched as the girl gaped, mouth opening and closing but not producing any sounds. Tugging on his hair in frustration, Jaehyun slapped Minjun’s hand away, avoiding the man’s touch. “Don’t touch me, you are completely disgusting!” he yelled drunkenly, pushing the other away with more strength when he tried to get a hold of Jaehyun’s arm.

“Jaehyun, don’t do this to me, come on buddy.” Minjun begged, sounding more and more desperate with each time he was brushed off. “We should talk, you are drunk, please try to calm down.”

Disbelieving, he scoffed, breathing hard. His head was spinning and all the drinks suddenly tasted foul. God, he had to go home. He wasn’t staying anymore, not if that meant having to look at Taeyong’s face and pretend everything was fine, if it meant having to explain all he saw. Dizzy, he squatted for a while, head between his hands.

Tugging on Minjun’s sleeve, the girl pulled him back, trying to distance the man from Jaehyun after seeing how infuriated and out of it he was. “Let him go, he’s too intoxicated and upset. If you fight here your friends will come out to see what is going on. Minjun, _shit_ , let him go. Fuck, I’m not staying here.”

“I can’t leave him like this!” Minjun exploded, annoyed at the tugging, at the people surrounding them, at everything. Ignoring her, he bent down, stretching a hand in Jaehyun’s direction before giving up with a tired sigh. “Jaehyun, come on, you gotta go home, I’ll give you a ride and we can talk. Please, let me explain. Our friendship can’t end over something like this, we’ve been best friends for years.”

“Please don’t tell him. I beg you. Let me explain.”

Vision blurring, Jaehyun cleared his throat, head shaking. “No.” He stood up, observing as Minjun followed him, staring into his eyes. “Do you remember what you told me when you started dating Taeyong?” He asked, clenching a fist when Minjun’s eyes widened at the memory, turning misty.

“You said he was supposed to be our best friend, too. You said we were a group. Of course, I agreed.” Jaehyun’s lips curled upwards, recalling how happy the man was with his new partner, trying his best to make him comfortable and included.

“We all did,” Minjun whispered, looking down.

“He is my best friend. I did what you asked me to. How am I supposed to pretend none of this happened? _I’d never do this to you_. I’d never let someone fool you the way you are doing it to him. I can’t do that. He must know what is going on, Minjun,” he said, anguish all over his voice. “Can you really expect me not to tell him? Can you explain why you cheated on him?”

Silence. Everyone that once had stopped to watch their fight were already gone, sensing that it wouldn’t turn into physical violence anyway. It could have. But Jaehyun felt like it wasn’t worth it, not even in his drunken state.

“No,” Minjun choked out. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think it’d go this far, I-”

Scoffing, Jaehyun rested his hand on his hips, thinking to himself that not _in a million years_ he thought he’d experience this. Minjun and Taeyong were supposed to last, and _he_ was supposed to _get over it_. “You are such an asshole.” Jaehyun felt like he was out of his mind, laughing so loudly in such a situation.

“You fucked up a perfect relationship. Congratulations. I just hope you can live with that.”

Humorlessly, Minjun grinned, eyes meeting his. “It was never perfect.”

Angry, he pulled Minjun closer by the collar. “Your fucking fault, then.”

Throwing the now quiet girl a dirty glare, he turned around, decided on grabbing his things and getting _the hell out_ of that place.

He could deal with this sober and after a good night of sleep.

Sure thing.

Well, he did not deal with it.

Sunday came and passed by, Monday arrived and Jaehyun had not moved a mere finger. At least not concerning Taeyong’s cheating situation. Better yet, _Minjun’s_ cheating situation.

So that’s why Minji hated him so much. The woman had known all along, but didn’t say anything.

He scurried into his office and shut himself there, buried under papers and papers, pretending nothing was seen _or heard_ by him, using the excuse of having too many documents to look over in favor of interacting between breaks like before.

It wasn’t possible for him to do the same as Minji, to have Taeyong smile, joke and talk to him so normally, unaware of what he now knew, something Taeyong precisely aforesaid that was a deal-breaker for him in a romantic relationship. Now, how was he supposed to even come up with the topic?

_Hey, so. I know I’m in love with you and all, and you’re probably well-informed about that, but I promise that the information I’m going to tell you has nothing to do with it, please don’t think I’m jealous and trying to ruin your and my (ex-?)best friend’s lives. Got that? Ok. Your boyfriend is cheating on you._

Amazing, isn’t it?

Jaehyun pounded his head on the table another time, looking up only to be received by the view of Kim Doyoung staring at him, judgingly and as displeased as one person could be. Staring around, his shoulders fell into relief again. No other friend at sight, especially no Taeyong.

“What do you want?” he asked tiredly, running fingers through his hair tiredly. Damn, some shampooing would be nice.

Crossing his legs, Doyoung unbuttoned his suit. “We have confused friends wondering what in the fuck happened in that club.”

“So. What happened in that club?” Jaehyun decided that avoiding the subject was easy and not as stressful as dealing with the problem itself, like a responsible adult would do. Doyoung, though, did not look amused by his play, violently getting hold of a pen and pointing to his direction.

“Why are you avoiding us? Look at me, you little shit, we have an agreement in our group. No ignoring each other before saying why we are doing it.” Fair enough, they did agree on that. But it was nothing he could openly say to his friends without finding a sensible way to approach the subject. 

For the nth time in the last hour, Jaehyun sighed. “I can’t tell you, ok? Soon enough I’ll go back to being normal, but, right now, I need to talk to someone first. I’m only trying to be mindful of how I’m going to break some news.”

Raising an eyebrow, Doyoung stared at him. Jaehyun stared back, nervously feeling a imaginary drop of sweat slide over his back.

Getting up, Doyoung brushed up his pants silently, seemingly satisfied with his response. Jaehyun relaxed against the chair, smiling, still uneasy whether Doyoung would press into the matter or not.

“This is about Taeyong and Minjun, isn’t it?”

His smile quickly died down.

“It’s fine. You don’t need to tell me anything now. Think about it, but don’t forget that Taeyong _had_ the right to know even before you did, whatever it is.”

Humorlessly, Jaehyun smiled. “Do you know what this is about?”

With a shrug, Doyoung opened the door. “Have no idea, to be honest. But it seems serious? Anyhow, I only came here to threaten you. It’s weirding our friends out.”

Waving at him, he quickly shut it again, leaving his friend completely crushed, alone in the room.

He was honestly mad, seriously. God, why did he have to be the one responsible for exposing the whole mess? Minjun and Minji, and their fucking similar names were getting on his nerves. Why couldn’t Minji spill the whole truth to her best friend already?

_‘Jaehyun, come to the old printer room. I need to ask you something’_

Talking about the devil.

Not devil, but fine. It was not the time to delve into any popular saying.

_‘Aren’t we in the middle of workhours?’_

_‘You avoided our lunch meeting for the last 2 weeks and something has been eating you up. You owe me!!! I thought we were getting even closer_ _☹_ _’_

Oh no, not the sad card.

_‘First tell me what’s about’_

_‘Minjun, your best friend, my boyfriend. Know him?’_

_‘Elaborate’_

_‘Shouldn’t you talk to him directly? I heard he is in the building today?’_

_‘You two fought, didn’t you? He won’t explain. Please, pleaseeeeee’_

Jaehyun was under too much stress. He wanted to yell; he didn’t deserve this. Perhaps he was a bit _too_ dramatic, but surely admitting to cheating on someone for another person would be stressful to anyone.

_‘See you in ten?’_

_‘Yes! Thanks!!!’_

_‘No problem, heh’_

_‘I missed you_ _☹_ _’_

_‘I missed you too, I’m sorry_ _☹_ _’_

Holding his head between his hand, Jaehyun laughed, in disbelief. Was he really ready to end a relationship of 3 years in about 10 minutes?

Putting his suit on again, Jaehyun shook his head. 


	5. Chapter 5

Taeyong was good at pretending he doesn’t remember stuff. It comes with the ability of trying to be extremely kind to others, even when they fuck up. Royally.

And that’s what he did about the ‘club episode’. Not that he was sure Minjun or Jaehyun had fucked up or anything, it’s just that his instinct was tingling and pointing towards something weird having occurred that night.

It would’ve been easier to _honestly_ let go of the issue, only if his boyfriend and Jaehyun acted normally. But, no. They, apparently, weren’t talking to each other anymore and Minjun was miserably trying to pretend everything was okay. Jaehyun didn’t even bother to try. He simply avoided Taeyong and their other friends like the plague, which bothered him in a way he couldn’t explain properly.

Being good and understanding was nice. He liked the way he was, smiles and comprehension made relationships more bearable and less complicated.

However, Taeyong was nice, comprehensive _and_ extremely observant. That little detail always made him feel uncomfortable, seeing as it usually made him see things he absolutely needn’t to see, or wanted to.

It was invisible to others, but observing everything and everyone has the power of sky-rocketing his anxiety. Therefore, one week of terrible anxiety hidden behind niceties and comprehension was taking its toll on him. He no longer wanted to comprehend Minjun’s weird behavior and detachment, he no longer wanted to be ignored and he also did _not_ appreciate the smoking, the mess around the house, the wandering eyes, the goddamn excuses as to why Minjun was so busy and secretive.

Oh, don’t get him wrong, he _is_ in love, very much is, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get annoyed too.

Even if he was _nice_ and _comprehensive_.

He pressed and pressed, but Minjun only smiled and told him not to worry, apologizing for unnatural demeanor, kissing Taeyong’s mouth like he _needed_ it, distracting touches momentarily pushing the thoughts away. 

_Perhaps it was his brain, once again, making things up_ , he wondered out loud, earning an interested ‘hum’ from his therapist. She looked a bit unconvinced, though, just like him. Did she catch something after listening to his rambling? Why couldn’t she simply _tell him_ _what to do_ , instead of pushing him into thinking even more. He wanted a goddamn break.

Wait, he needed to take deep breaths. That didn’t sound nice at all. It wasn’t fair to push his unfounded worries against his boyfriend, friends _and_ therapist and create a fight or any type of distrust, right? No, he was someone _new_ after the treatment, after _Minjun_. He was, now, happy and fulfilled. On the right path, grown up and no longer behaving like a rebelling teenager.

 _“Taeyong. Being depressed isn’t your fault. It’s not you trying to be a rebel without a cause. And my job is to listen to your worries, you don’t have to avoid anything in this room,”_ Dr. Hwang would say, and he would nod, of course, trying to agree with something he couldn’t believe a hundred percent in.

It was not what people would say if he missed work for 3 weeks straight after an episode, after all.

Still, she was probably right. It was her job to be right about that and he believed she was a competent professional.

After one week, two therapeutic sessions, five days of working nonstop, seven days of being fucked speechless by his boyfriend, one day of biting his nails away, he just couldn’t anymore.

If Minjun wasn’t going to say what he felt like it was the full truth, then Jaehyun would. The man was terrible at hiding anything. Or so he believed, after all, Jaehyun never seemed to be interested in hiding anything from Taeyong.

_‘Jaehyun, come to the old printer room. I need to ask you something’_

Much to his surprise, Jaehyun seemed to be a bit apprehensive about their meeting. Maybe it was because the old printer room was pretty much abandoned and a quite secluded space? Was he thinking Taeyong wanted to have his wicked way with him, or anything? Not that Jaehyun wasn’t an attractive man, of course he was, anyone could see that. But Taeyong was a man in a relationship, so it should be obvious he wasn’t suggesting a romp in the office or anything.

That could only mean that he was purposefully avoiding him and that something _indeed_ happened that night! Great! Now thoughts felt free to run around his mind, causing chaos in every single space of brain that they could.

Brushing the (inexistent) dust off his pants, Taeyong sighed, feeling inexplicably scared for some reason. Something was wrong and deep inside; he was aware of it. Resting his hand on the doorknob, he didn’t dare to turn it, closing his eyes and mustering courage to face Jaehyun, the ‘issue’, and himself. Taeyong thought of multiple reasons as to why that night caused such uproar, from the simplest and silliest ones to the most ridiculous and completely devastating others.

One reason in particular seemed to glue his feet in place, whispers of distrust and heartbreak tickling his ears, all brushed off as he opened the door and put another smile on his face so no one else would wonder what in the world is going on through his mind. Even he wasn’t able of explaining that.

Notifying everyone that he would be back soon, he walked through the corridors slowly, getting distracted by a sound coming from his cellphone.

A text from Minjun.

Oh, they wouldn’t eat together at lunch today, but they could order some Thai food for dinner. One smiling emoji and an ‘I love you’ were the last ones. Taeyong smiled at it, quickly agreeing with the change of plans. The simple interaction made butterflies rudely invade his stomach, fluttery wings forcing a flush to his cheeks, like they usually do when it comes to Minjun.

This time, though, the fluttering seemed to be a bit too much, on the verge of discomforting as the butterflies escaped and travelled throughout his whole body, occupying so much space that his heart seemed to become smaller, beating, squeezed between the overflowing feelings, throat unusually filled with wings that couldn’t stop moving.

It was overflowing, everything was spilling.

Taeyong swallowed it down, and smiled again. Graciously, well composed, because he knew his mind was trying to create a situation that simply could not exist. It was impossible, ridiculous. 

Whatever Jaehyun saw or did that day probably has nothing to do with him, it’s only curiosity and worry over the well being of his friend, of course.

Before Taeyong noticed, he was inside the room, startling himself with how Jaehyun fiddled with his own fingers, sitting like an unruly young boy on top of a table, legs crossed and shoulders tense. Slightly amused by the sight of a grown man, fully dressed in a fancy suit sitting like that, he snorted, bursting into laughter when Jaehyun stumbled down, trying to smooth the wrinkles on his outfit, as if it would make him look more like a presentable adult.

“Hi, um, I was,” Jaehyun stuttered. “Stop looking at me like that, the chairs are tiny and I wanted to be comfortable, okay? No one comes here anyway,” he squinted his eyes at the judgmental stare Taeyong gave him.

“I wasn’t judging you!” Taeyong lied, sitting down at the perfectly-sized chair, wide enough for an ample range of body types. “I _will_ judge you, however, after you give me an explanation as to why you’ve been avoiding me,” his tongue slipped, flushing when he realized his mistake. “I mean us, all of us. Your friends, remember?”

Jaehyun winced, looking quite guilty. Well, Taeyong wasn’t one to enjoy making other people feel bad, but Jaehyun was in the wrong in first place. They were worried! And how he left at the club was incredibly suspicious, hinting to a possible fight with Minjun or something alike, even if both denied such thing.

Ten said he was ready to unleash his fury onto both of them, and Yuta agreed, but Johnny insisted they tried talking to both men first, earning an uninterested nod from Doyoung, who just wanted to eat his lunch in peace. Taeyong only hummed and wondered why this place had such a bad tea, compared to the restaurant he went with Jaehyun that one time.

“Jaehyun? Why are you avoiding us? Did we do something?”

Groaning, the man shook his head, pacing around the room anxiously. Now Taeyong was starting to suspect he was involved in some crime from the way he bit his perfectly manicured nails. He even had one tiny, almost imperceptible pimple on his cheek, something that, until now, it was impossible to appear on Jaehyun’s skin.

“What happened that night? What happened when you went outside to check on Minjun? That’s the reason why you’re acting strange, isn’t it? He doesn’t want to explain to me, but I know something is off and my brain hasn’t been kind to me at all, so please tell me what happened before I start coming up with ridiculous theories.”

He waited as Jaehyun didn’t say a thing, sitting down on the chair right across from him with a somber expression. Taeyong’s imagination ran free, imagining absurd scenes, scenes that tried to explain what could have happened to possibly explain all this suspense.

“Look at me,” Taeyong whispered, hands trembling as his friend refused to do so. “Doyoung told me you talked to him. Seemed a bit strange, but still talked to him. Johnny, Ten and Yuta said the same. Why can’t you even look at me?”

“I feel bad.”

“About _what_?” Taeyong pressed once again, throat constricting in discomfort, afraid of what he had coming. “Are you feeling bad because of me? Or _for me_?” he finally asked, taking a shaky breath when Jaehyun stared at him, eyes wide and alarmed, perfectly creating a tiny _crack_ in his heart. “What did you do? What did you _see_?”

Lips quivering, Jaehyun mumbled, almost inaudibly. _Almost_.

“I saw Minjun.”

Taeyong _almost_ wished it was completely, only so he could keep on being the same nice and comprehensive fool he has tried to be.

“He, he was outside and,” he stopped, burying his face into his hands, shaking his head. Taeyong wanted to comfort him, wanted to _comprehend_ , but he just didn’t have the patience or the heart anymore. He needed to know, right at that moment.

“And _what_? For god’s sake! What happened?!” Taeyong exploded, bringing a hand to his mouth when he heard how aggressively it had come out, when he saw how Jaehyun’s eyes looked even more terrorized, as if scared of _him_ now. “I-I’m sorry, I,” he apologized, getting up from his chair to stand in front of the other man, stepping back in surprise when Jaehyun stood as well, reaching for his arm.

“Taeyong, Minjun is cheating on you. I saw him with another woman that day.”

_Taeyong had a boyfriend of 3 years._

_His name was Minjun and he was 2 years older than him. He was his boyfriend, soulmate and best friend, the confidant he’s never had before._

“The girl, the girl that works here, the one that we saw at the club. I, I really thought it was a coincidence, hell. I thought she had a crush on you, but no, she was there for him and I was drunk as hell but I know what I saw.”

_He was loving, caring and helped Taeyong when he thought he had no one, not even himself. Everything he had today was because of that man. When everyone turned their backs on him, Minjun found him on his darkest times, a helping hand in the middle of sorrow and self-pity._

“They were kissing outside and laughing too, we fought and it was fucking terrible, I called him names and I think I offended her too, I’m not sure now. I didn’t know how to tell you, I didn’t want to see you go through any of this, I,” Jaehyun, rambled, spilled everywhere, like the butterflies in Taeyong’s stomach, throat, heart.

_"Oh?" Taeyong stared at the thin band, shrugging. "I bought it a few years ago. Mom used to tell me it looks like I'm engaged, or something. I just thought it looked pretty?" he asked absentmindedly, tilting his head. "Maybe this is me telling myself unconsciously that want to get married?"_

“If you don’t believe in me, you can ask Minji, she knows it too.”

_Minjun has always been a great kisser and today was no exception, but there was something off about their kiss, slightly different from how it used to be. Pulling away, Taeyong stared into the other’s eyes, bringing their lips together once again before letting him go._

“I am sorry. I tried to tell you before, but I just couldn’t.”

_Taeyong's distracted smile melted into a confused one. "Hey...Isn't that the intern from Minjun's office that is helping us with the juridical process?" The girl was standing by the bar, looking like she was by herself, which, for him, was a little odd._

“You two should talk, it’s none of my business, I am aware, but I think you shouldn’t do anything rash before talking to him and hearing it from his mouth.”

_"I can't fucking believe in that shit..." Minji cursed, agitated all of a sudden. Extremely displeased, she put down the half-full cup of water, busying herself with throwing her keys back into a black purse._

“Taeyong? Taeyong? Are you listening to me?”

_Shaking his head, Minjun shrugged, confused. "No? I didn't see him at all. Did something happen?" Taeyong could listen traces of nervousness in the tone of his voice, wondering if they really didn't meet outside. Jaehyun and Minjun didn't fight, though. They really got along well, so them meeting creating such a reaction from Jaehyun wasn't clicking._

Blinking, he looked into Jaehyun’s eyes again, surprised to see how red and swollen they were. Oh, did he cry? God, he was crying so much, guilt written all over his face, like he was the one who cheated on Taeyong.

“I am listening to you, of course I am,” he answered calmly, voice sounding strange even to himself. Jaehyun still has a comforting hand on his forearm, holding it softly, fingers shaking but steady at the same time. Before he opened his mouth again, Taeyong shook his head. “I believe in you, too. You have no reason to lie to me.”

Something reached his top lip, and Jaehyun’s face scrunched up again. “Why are you crying this much? You aren’t the one to blame, I am not mad at you, Jaehyun. Hey, stop crying.”

“Fuck off, you’re crying too,” Jaehyun blurted out, apologizing profusely when Taeyong messily cleaned the tears running down his face, salty taste bitter on his tongue. He started crying without even feeling it, how great.

“Jaehyun, I was cheated on by the man I thought I was going to live forever with, I guess I can cry?” he laughed out loud, wet and gross, just like his face, probably red and puffy already.

Why was he surprised? It was so easy to make him cry anyway, since he was a baby, actually. It never bothered him, though. Not until now, when he caught himself mortifyingly crying into Jaehyun’s expensive, white shirt, holding onto his friend like a kid with a new, fresh scratch on his knee holds onto their parent.

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry,” Jaehyun repeated, rubbing a soothing hand down his back, letting Taeyong cling onto his shoulders as if it was nothing. Taeyong realized, at that moment, that he was sorry too. Jaehyun fought his best friend of years because of _him_. They weren’t in speaking terms because of _his_ failed relationship.

“I’m sorry, too. Fuck. Fuck, fuck!” Taeyong swore, divided between weeping and cracking up when Jaehyun made a confused noise at the expletives. He wasn’t one to curse like that, after all. He wasn’t used to having his heart broken by his boyfriend either, he supposed, so it was probably fine. “You don’t need to be upset at him because of me, okay? You are his best friend, and this has nothing to do with you, really.”

“Taeyong.” Jaehyun said seriously, no trace of tears in his voice anymore.

“I usually don’t talk to you like that, and this is going to be the first and last time ever, I promise,” he said, and Taeyong braced himself to hear some well-deserved, mean things, anything that would insult his intelligence because everyone probably saw it coming or something alike, while he was too busy trying to live in a fairytale.

“Shut the fuck up, you fool. I’m with you.”

Taeyong wasn’t sure of how Jaehyun thought this was _incredibly rude_ , he only knew how to hold on tighter, because only now he felt the weight of everything he built in the last years crashing down.

Fool, indeed, he was, for building a life around someone else, for believing in salvation in form of love, for centering all of his relationships around Minjun.

God, his friends. His friends were going to be torn, just like Jaehyun, divided between supporting and consoling one or another.

His house, which he had no intention of going back to, his things, his plans which were never _only_ his. They were supposed to share those, too.

“Thank you.”

Nothing more than a whisper, but Jaehyun nodded, hugging him tighter again, before pushing him away a little, enough to take a real look at Taeyong. Silently, he reached into a pocket, taking out a mountain of paper tissues. If Taeyong weren’t too busy crying desperately again, he would certainly chuckle at the sight.

“Did you prepare those for me?” he asked, hiccupping.

“Well, not exactly. Those were for me,” Jaehyun admitted, ears flushing. “But I think you need them more, your face is a mess,” he said, painfully honest.

“Jaehyun, you also need to shut the fuck up.” Taeyong complained, quickly grabbing the tissues before cleaning his face. Snorting wetly, he closed his eyes, lips twitching at the weak laugh his friend let escape.

They both stood there in silence for a few minutes, and it made him reflect over some episodes between him and Minjun. Well, that certainly explained why the man was so insistent on sticking to his cellphone, the talks at night, too. The overworking wasn’t overworking, after all.

Minji. He was upset. Perhaps rightfully so, perhaps it wasn’t fair to be. If it were for her, maybe he’d never find out what was happening. That wasn’t important right now, though.

Minjun.

How could he? What was it? Lust, love? Towards a girl that was how much younger? What was he even thinking? Why not simply _break up_ with him, then? They didn’t fight, not unlike other normal, healthy couples. Taeyong wasn’t overbearing, he was _nice_ and _comprehensive_ , _being good and understanding was nice. He liked the way he was, smiles and comprehension made relationships more bearable and less complicated._

Right?

Apparently, he was wrong. He was a fool.

“Taeyong, I’m sorry but I really need to go back to work. I said I would be back in twenty, but it’s been an hour.” Jaehyun grimaced, taking a glance at his phone. “I hope you can talk to him and see how things turn out. I’ll talk to the guys if you want me to, I can explain what I saw that night.”

The corners of Taeyong’s lips curled up, thankful for the truth, for the reassurance. He agreed, he didn’t want to deal with the questions and his friends did want to know what made Jaehyun act strange. “Tell them tomorrow, maybe? I want to think by myself today, no interruptions, if you get me.”

Nodding profusely, Jaehyun went along with it. Not before asking him one important question, however. “Will you talk to him today?”

“No.” Taeyong replied, noticing how Jaehyun opened his mouth to convince him otherwise but gave up before doing so. Waving the other a goodbye, he sat down again, observing how the butterflies seemed numb now, refusing to put their wings to use.

Great. He isn’t interested in changing his plans because of them right now.

_‘Love, don’t wait for me. Leave the thai food for another opportunity.’_

Taeyong was good at pretending he doesn’t remember stuff. It comes with the ability of trying to be extremely kind to others, even when they fuck up. Royally.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing a fic that it isn't half socmed, so help me out? Please interact a lot and tell me what you think of it! I hope we can enjoy this together as it gets written.
> 
> If you ever feel like:  
> https://curiouscat.me/coupsyong  
> @coupsyong


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